In The Darkest Hour Of The Night
by catch me if u can
Summary: Ginny and Harry both have terrible nightmares about the war. But they're just friends and neither will admit that the person who best soothes their nightmares is each other. Can they stay just friend while living together and helping each other?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: These characters might be slightly AU

Home

"Morning Harry." Ginny said through a yawn as she approached the kitchen counter and poured herself a cup of coffee.

"Morning Gin." Harry replied, peering at her disheveled state from over the top of The Daily Prophet. Her brilliant red hair was clumped and knotted, her trademark hangover hair. She wore a large men's white shirt, which Harry assumed was his, barely covering her light purple panties that were sticking out from the top of the waistband of a pair of men's boxer shorts rolled at the waist to accompany her small frame.

"Rough night last night?" he asked as he eyed her.

"Eh, I guess so." She replied as she stood at the island counter in the center of the kitchen chewing on a donut.

"Kyle leave already?" Harry asked nonchalantly.

"Mmmhmm, he had to work early this morning. He said something about going into the office early. Besides, it's probably not a good idea to let him see you waking up to get the morning post, or brewing the coffee with your wand."

Harry nodded slowly. Ginny had a fascination with muggle men. Kyle was her latest victim. She had met him a couple nights ago at a muggle pub that they loved and had been out with him every night since.

"Don't you have a test this morning, Gin? Shouldn't you be getting ready?"

"Nah, I took it with the other section of the class yesterday afternoon. I have one more practical for the year an hour and then I'm done. Then I just get to work all summer. Great."

"Well, good luck, I know you'll do great. You've already been working in the maternity department for a year. You'll be fine."

"I know, it's just hard to get used to the different aspects of the job from a Healers point of view rather than a Medi-Witches. But this time next year I'll be a fully fledged Healer, and not a Medi-Witch anymore. So I guess it's worth it."

"It is worth it Gin. You've worked so hard."

"I know. I'm just ready for a summer without classes! Let the partying begin!" She held her mouth open and stuck her tongue out, revealing the mashed up donut inside.

"Ewww, gosh Gin, that's disgusting!" Ron proclaimed as she stepped out of the fire and into the living room.

"Aww come on guys. Do you really have dress like that in front of me?"

"We're clothed Ron!" Ginny shouted gesturing with offense down the length of her body.

"You're wearing _each other's_ clothes!" he shouted throwing his hands in the air.

"Hey! I'm wearing my own pajama pants, and you've seen me shirtless tons of times."

"Yes but you don't have to be shirtless in front of me and my sister at the same time, while she is wearing your clothes!" He yelled, desperately trying to make his point.

"Hey all I did was grab a shirt from the wash basket in the hall. I'm sorry that it happened to be Harry's. We both own white shirts you know." She stated matter of factly.

"And those?" Ron asked dumbly, gesturing towards her boxers.

"Those," Harry pointed a finger at the boxers as well, "aren't mine." Harry finished as Ginny began to blush and turned her back, suddenly very interested in pouring herself another cup of coffee.

Ron though his hands up in the air in frustration and defeat. "I don't know how you do it. You live together, I've caught you sleeping in the same bed multiple times, I know you have sex cause half the time at clubs you're hanging all over each other, and you sleep with other people whenever you please. You guys are messed up, you're… Well I don't know what you are! I'll have to get Hermione to make up a word for what you guys are.

"We're roommates!" Harry yelled at the same time as Ginny proclaimed "We're having fun!"

"We're having fun being roommates." Ginny stated, putting the two statements together.

"Oh well at least you're having fun!" Ron cried. He took a deep breath and took a moment to compose himself. "Whatever," he said calmly. "Do whatever you want. I just came over here to ask if we were still going out to celebrate Ginny's last day of school for the year. And if we are Hermione would like to request that we go to Coopers, and have dinner there too. That way we'll have a table and won't have to try to save seats at the bar for each other all night."

Harry and Ginny were nodding together.

"That works for me." Ginny said. "Tell Hermione that the table idea is awesome!"

"It's good for me too." Harry replied as well. "It'll be perfect for Ginny. It'a s muggle bar so Kyle can come." He said the name in a sing song voice. "Ginny and Kyle sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G," he sang loudly.

"Oh please, Harry" Ginny yelled, punching him. "You're 25 years old! Act like it!"

"I thought he was acting like a 25 year old." Ron stated, defending Harry. "Ginny and Kyle sitting in a tree."

"K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Harry joined in with the chant.

"First comes love, then comes marriage, then come a baby in the baby carriage!" they sang together towards Ginny's back as she stormed out of the kitchen and down the hall, slamming the door to her room.

"Quite a firey temper she's got isn't it?" Harry asked Ron in jest while trying to keep a straight face.

"I don't know how you live with her," Ron said. There was a moment's silence, in which they heard the Weird Sisters begin to blast from Ginny's room. Ron slapped his palms against the counter and proclaimed that he had to leave for work. He worked in the Sports Department of the ministry and he had a lot to prepare for the hosting of the World Cup at the end of the summer.

"I should be getting ready anyway. I've got practice in half an hour. Apparently there are going to be scouts from your department there, for England's Cup team. I've got to put on a good show."

"Too right you do Harry! They've got their eye on you! And Puddlemore is the last that they have to look at. We're supposed to be announcing the official line up tomorrow afternoon! Good luck!" Ron said as he moved away from the island and towards the fireplace. "See you for dinner," he said with a suspicious wink, before he flooed away to the Ministry.

Harry disregarded the awkward wink and moved from the kitchen to his bedroom to prepare for practice.

Harry and Ginny led a very complicated relationship after the war. They had tried to get back together, but Ginny had one more year of school left and Harry had accepted the position of reserve seeker for Puddlemore United, following in Oliver Wood's footsteps. He just wanted to do what made him happy after the war, and nothing made him happier than Quittich and Ginny. They had written letters throughout her seventh year at Hogwarts. They became close though those letters and that's how Harry had learned about each other nightmares. Both had terrible nightmares in the middle of the night about the battle, about what could have happened, about what had happened. As they grew closer mentally while being physically apart they became more like best friends then boyfriend and girlfriend. Sure they hugged and exchanged short kisses, but they were more like friendly and comfortable flirtations between good friends. They realized it before anyone else and embraced the change that they had slowly slipped into. They were happy with the way things had turned out. She wasn't his girlfriend but he was closer to her than anyone in the world, even Ron and Hermione. They weren't together but they were friends, best friends.

Upon leaving Hogwarts Ginny applied and was accepted into the Medi-Witch program at St. Mugo's. After two years she was a Medi-Witch in the maternity ward and was living in a flat with Hermione for a year. That is until Ron and Hermione got engaged, then married, and moved into their own house. Ginny desperately wanted to return to school to become a Healer, but couldn't afford to rent her own flat and go to school at the same time, even if she stayed on as a Medi-Witch while she went back so school. Harry graciously opened his arms and his flat to her letting her live there rent free while she studied to become a Healer.

It was her second night there that it had started. Harry had had a night practice. He could never fall asleep properly after them. He was sitting at the island in the kitchen when he heard a noise from down the hall. It sounded like screaming. He snatched up his wand and dashed to Ginny's room. He could hear Ginny moaning in distress but could hear no other sounds coming from the room. The opened the door slowly, wand at the ready, to find Ginny tossing wildly in bed crying out to the empty room. He knew about her nightmares, but she had never told him that they were this bad. She had never told him that they were just like his. But then again, he had never let on to the severity of his own night terrors either.

The Daily Prophet and Witch Weekly constantly reported that Harry slept around a lot. Harry Potter did sleep around a lot, but not for the reasons that they thought. He had found that when someone was sleeping in the same bed as him, particularly when he had someone to hold or hold him, his nightmares disappeared. Therefore, he took to bringing women home with him, but he was not looking for a lasting relationship, only a means to an end, an end to his nightmares.

Not pausing to think Harry rushed toward the bed, climbed in and wrapped his strong arms around Ginny, guiding her sweated forehead to rest against his bare chest as he set his chin gently upon the top of her head. Soon she stopped shaking and her breath came in even sighs. Harry kissed the top of her head before drifting off to sleep next to Ginny to find that she drove away his nightmares just as successfully as he removed hers.

They weren't dating though, they couldn't date. They were best friends. They dated others, slept with others, and at night were comforted by others. On occasion, although, when neither had someone to help them through the night they relied on each other. Soon sleeping in the same bed on occasion turned into sleeping with each other on occasion, but they weren't together. They were just comfortably flirtatious, best friends, who drove each other's each other nightmares away better than anyone else. But they would never admit that to each other.

They'd been living together for three years now. Ginny had one more year of Healer training and Harry was now the starting seeker for Puddlemore United, the champion of England's Quittich League. He was rumored to be the first pick for seeker on the England's team for the World Cup tournament.

As Harry closed his bedroom door the wooden barrier brought the sound of the Weird Sisters down to a bearable level. Harry stripped off his pajama pants and stepped into a pair of navy blue mesh shorts. He covered his chest with a white shirt identical to the one Ginny was wearing. He stepped into the bathroom, brushed his teeth and attempted to flatten his hair to no avail. He dropped his pajama pants in the hamper and left the bathroom and his room and entered what felt like the front row of a Weird Sisters concert.

He opened the door to Ginny's room only to be blasted even more by the music. She was sprawled out on her bed lying on her stomach with her feet in the air, reviewing notes before her final exam.

"Ginny!" he screamed, as he flicked his wand at the stereo to turn the music down. "You're going to be late for your exam if you don't start getting ready soon."

She stood, dropped her boxers to the floor and threw her t-shirt on the floor as well. She replaced them with a pair of jeans from the floor and Weird Sisters t-shirt handing off of the footboard of her bed.

"There, I'm ready! Just go to work and let me study. I promise I won't be late!"

"Okay, okay," he said, backing out of the room, his hands in surrendering position in the air. He backed around the corner before popping his head back in the room.

"Good luck Gin." He said while striding over to her. He planted a kiss on her forehead. "You'll do great. Knock 'em dead."

"I don't want to be knocking any babies dead!" She yelled after him as he made his way down the hall and flooed to practice.


	2. Chapter 2

Safety

Harry stood panting heavily after one of the most rigorous practices he had ever had. Well, it was more like a try-out really. Puddlemore United's season had ended two days ago when they claimed the League Championship over the Tornados. He finally managed to get a good look at the scouts who were now conferring in one of the VIP boxes of the stands. He quickly recognized Ron's bright red hair, and instantly knew what his incriminating wink had been about that morning. He chuckled to himself as he ignored their manager's end of practice pep talk. The season was over. He wouldn't need to be pepped at all for the rest of the summer unless he made it on the World Cup team. Then someone else would do the pepping. He watched as the scouts left the box. He couldn't be sure but he thought he saw turn around to get one last look at the team and wink at him again. He vaguely heard the team get dismissed to the locker rooms and his suspicion was confirmed as Wood wrapped an arm around his shoulders and moved him toward the locker room.

"Trying to figure out what they were think too, eh?" he asked as he elbowed Harry in the ribs.

"Yeah, I guess so," Harry said trying to sound non-committal, "I just thought I saw Ron up there is all."

"Yeah, right, I'm sure." He said, releasing his hold on Harry and running toward the locker room to claim his favorite shower.

Harry took his time getting to the locker room and undressing so that when Wood stepped out of the good shower he could get in. It was a finely tuned system that no one on the team messed with. He and Wood had the most seniority on the team, Harry having been with the team for eight years and Wood for ten. Harry was just towel drying his hair when the manager appeared in the locker room.

"Wood, Potter the owner would like to see you both in his office."

Oliver and Harry exchanged excited glances. Harry quickly pulled on his shorts and was tugging his shirt over his still wet hair as they moved though the halls of the stadium.

"We have to have made it, right?" Wood asked over and over again as they made the journey to the owner's office. "I mean, if we didn't they wouldn't have to talk to us at all. But then what if they aren't even here anymore. I mean what if this is about a raise, or what if we're out. We are getting old Harry."

"Oliver," Harry placed a firm hand on his shoulder. He rarely used Olivers first name, so he knew he was serious. "Just calm down, and don't worry. At the very least, we know it's not going to be anything bad. We are the two best players on the team. And besides, we're about to find out in about ten seconds anyway." Harry pointed to the large mahogany door with the name Jackson McDervin on it. "Jack's a good guy, everything is going to be fine." He said as Wood pushed the door open slowly.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief that he didn't know he had been holding in as he saw the couches and chairs of the spacious office adorned with members of the Sports Department. Ron was beaming at him from a chaise.

"Congratulations boys!" Jack practically yelled in greeting. "How would you like to be on the World Cup team?"

"It would be an honor sir." Harry said, as Wood just beamed in reply. "I think Wood's trying to say yes, he just can't get the words out sir." Wood nodded vehemently.

Jack shook both of their hands before speaking again. "Well gentlemen, I'd like to introduce you to the selection committee. Please welcome Head of Committee Michael Sauers, his assistant Leanne Harner, and members Frank Wagner, Joshua Fogarty, and Ronald Weasley." He said each name as the two shook hands in turn. Ron shook Harry's hand with so much vigor that he thought his arm was going to fall off.

"We were all very impressed with your flying out there today." Michael stated. "Now, of course, being on the World Cup team requires a certain amount of responsibility. The team will begin practice Monday morning for two weeks, six days a week. Monday through Thursday you will be practicing two a days. Fridays and Saturdays will be regular practice hours and you will have Sundays off. The starting line-up and the reserves will be announced after the first week of practice. You are expected to be on time to each and every practice and should stay until the fruition of each practice. Once you are on the team you should be committed to the team unless we ask you to leave. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir," they said simultaneously.

"Good then. I'm glad to have two top notch players like yourselves on board. Weasley, the paper work please."

Ron withdrew two sets of contracts from his brief case and set them on the table in between the two parties. It took half an hour to review and sign all of the necessary points on the contract, but after it was done Harry Potter and Oliver Wood were officially part of England's World Cup team.

They could hardly contain their excitement until they got out of the office. As soon as Harry closed the door behind him Wood leapt up and punched the air with his fist. "World Cup team baby!" he yelled as he punched Harry in the shoulder. "World Cup!" he yelled again and again as they ran toward the locker room together.

They were met by whoops and cheers. The manager had clearly informed the team as soon as Harry and Oliver had left. They were already popping open bottles of champagne, but Harry had to get home to tell Ginny, and to ask about her exam.

He flooed to the apartment directly from the locker room.

"Ginny!" he called as he wondered though the empty flat. "Gin, where are you? How did your practical go? Did you knock any babies dead?"

He strained his ears to hear a laugh. He heard nothing and made his way dejectedly toward the kitchen to get a glass of water. A note was sitting at the counter.

Harry,

Went to The Burrow for lunch to celebrate the end of school with mum. Meet me when you get done with practice, she's dying to fatten you up after a long season of training.

Love Ginny

Harry sighed and set the note back down on the counter. He had been so excited to tell her. He was dying for some of Mrs. Weasley's cooking though. He quickly swapped his shorts for a pair of jeans and was gone.

As soon as he stepped out of the fire place he was met by the deafening roar of fourteen Weasley's screaming "Congratulations!" at once. Harry beamed up at them all and was quickly surrounded in a large group hug, started by Ginny and Hermione.

"We're just so proud of you, dear!" Mrs. Weasley said holding onto his cheeks. "Come, come, come!" she commanded, guiding him towards the kitchen. "Lunch is ready everyone!" she yelled as she shoved him though the door to the yard first.

Two large tables were festooned with food. Harry sat down in the nearest seat and dug in. Ginny joined him in the seat next to him.

"I knew you could do it Harry! You'll be the starting seeker in no time!"

"I sure hope so. Hey, how did you test go?"

"Well, I didn't kill any babies, and… I passed with flying colors. My examiners said that I did an exceptional job well done! I got the top score in my class!"

"That's wonderful Gin!" he yelled, pulling her into an awkward positioned hug. "One more year and you'll be the top Healer of your graduating class!"

"Don't you know it!" she yelled cockily. "We're just too awesome to be true!" she said with a laugh. "They should be building a shrine outside our flat as we speak."

"Gin, we don't use the front door to our flat, like ever."

"Well, I'll be using it tonight. I called Kyle. He wasn't home but I left him a message letting him know that yours most wonderfully and truly would be at Coopers tonight. So we have to take a muggle taxi home if we leave together."

"You got it Gin." He said, excited for her. She didn't usually stay with muggle men for too long, and Harry was glad that she had found someone that she truly liked.

She beamed at him once more and then turned to talk to Hermione about the details of the evening. Harry occupied himself with stuffing his mouth full of delicious food and talking about quittich.

It was seven when Hermione and Ron arrived at the flat before going to Coopers. Harry was just finishing buttoning up a gray shirt and Ginny was slipping into her red high heels. She looked amazing in her black halter top and white flowing skirt that hit just above the knee. Her hair had been magically curled and was now flowing down her back and over her shoulders in large waves.

The four enjoyed a nice dinner and nursed their cocktails until the pub began to fill with people and was quickly turned into more of a club atmosphere. They left the reserved sign to keep wandering people away when they were all away from the table.

As soon as enough people arrived Harry pulled Ginny out onto the dance floor. Harry had become quite good at his past nemesis, dancing, after a few lessons from Ginny in the safety of the flat. Now that he was good at it he loved it and could spend all night on the dance floor. In fact, whomever he happened to dance with the most throughout the night was most likely to be the girl that he took home with him.

As he spun Ginny around the dance floor she took the opportunity to keep an eye out for Kyle. The fast song was followed by a slow one and Harry pulled Ginny close to him.

"Do you see him anywhere?" he asked.

"No, I don't. Do you?" Harry scanned the room as he turned them in a full circle.

"Nah, I don't see him either. Maybe he's just not here yet."

"Yeah, maybe," she said slowly. "I'm going to go back to the table. I told him that we would have one, so maybe he's looking for me there or has met up with Ron and Hermione."

"Yeah, go ahead. I'm fine here!" He yelled after her as a tall blonde in a turquoise dress moved to join him on the dance floor.

Harry spent almost three hours dancing and drinking with the woman before he brought her over to the table.

"Hey everyone," Harry yelled over the music, holding his pint of beer in the air. "This is Carly. Carly this is Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Kyle. Wait, that's not Kyle. Who's that Gin?" He asked drunkenly as he pointed to the man standing behind Ginny's chair.

"Harry this is Evan, Evan meet my roommate Harry. Kyle didn't show up, and I needed someone to hang out with."

Harry knew what she meant. Kyle hadn't shown up and Harry was practically attached at the hip to Carly. She needed someone to take home to keep away her nightmares; she had gotten too used to not having them. The thought of them scared her more than not being faithful to Kyle. She had been counting on Kyle, and so had Harry. If he had known sooner that he hadn't come he would have spent the night with Ginny himself. But, now he had Carly and she had Evan.

"Your roommate?" Carly and Evan questioned at the same time.

"Don't worry!" Hermione butted in. "They just live together, cause Ginny's too poor to have her own apartment. They're best friends, there's nothing serious between them." She stated waving off their comments. Harry knew her well enough to know that she was trying to stifle a laugh.

"Exactly" Harry and Ginny said at the same time, trying to get Hermione to shut up.

They took two separate cabs home. When Harry and Carly walked through the door they could hear giggling coming from Ginny's room and didn't linger in the living room. Harry gently took her hand and led them straight to his room, closing the heavy wooden door behind them to block out the sound.

"See," he said huskily. "I told you, you had nothing to worry about."

He began to undo his shirt as she reached around and untied the knot at the back of her dress. He stepped closer to her as she pulled the dress over her head. He let his shirt hang open as he closed the gap between them and grabbed her face, kissing her passionately. He ran his hands over her white freckled shoulders. She pushed his shirt off of his shoulders and kissed his chest.

"Mmm, someone was a bad boy as a child." She moaned, as she examined his scars. She ran her hand over them carefully and pushed him back towards the bed. She took control as she rid him of his pants and the rest of their undergarments before straddling him on the bed. Harry wasn't sure if he wanted this or not, but he just closed his eyes and let it happen. He knew that she would stay the night and that's all he needed.

Harry's well trained ears heard Ginny scream in the middle of the night. He knew it wasn't a sexual scream; he could tune that one out. Ginny was having nightmares. Maybe Evan hadn't wanted to spend the night. He quickly threw on his discarded boxers and charged though his door and down the hall to Ginny's room. He burst through the door to find Evan sitting on top of a naked Ginny, roughly trying to pin her down. One hand was covering her mouth. Harry saw her bite down hard.

"Get off of me!" she screamed as he let go. She was rocking her body as hard as she could but her small frame could not throw him off.

Harry didn't think but ran towards the bed and tackled Evan to the floor. He drew his hand back and punched him in the face before wrapping his arms around the man and forcing him out of Ginny's room. He shoved him up against the wall and punched him again in the stomach. He was relieved to see that he was still wearing his boxers. He pulled back to deliver another blow when Evan darted out of the way and sprinted toward the door. He was gone before Harry could even reach the kitchen.

He could hear Ginny's sobs coming from her room, and he stifled the urge to pursue Evan. He darted back into her room and took her in his arms, cradling her and rocking her back and forth trying to sooth her.

"It's okay Ginny." He cooed, smoothing her hair gently. "You're okay, you're safe now. I've got you. Harry's got you." He held her until her sobbing turned into a soft sniffle. Then he got up and handed her the robe hanging on her door. "Come on," he said gently. "Let's have some tea."

She nodded slowly not looking at him. He put an arm around her and helped to lift her from the bed. They walked down the hall and to the kitchen with his arm around her shoulders. Harry pointed his wand at the tea pot and instantly tea filled the glass container. He poured two steaming mugs full and slid one over to Ginny along with a plate of shortbread cookies. She picked up a cookie and nibbled at it.

"Do you want to tell me what happened, Gin?" he asked gently.

There was a moment silence before she nodded reluctantly.

"We um, came home and we were kind of fooling around, having some fun. We didn't have sex, but we did… other things. I guess he must have wanted more though because we fell asleep and the next thing I remember I was naked and he was on top of me and I was scared out of my mind. Thank Merlin you hear me scream. I wasn't sure if you would be able too."

"Of course I did Gin. It sounded like, well it sounded like you were having a nightmare."

Ginny nodded slowly. "It was like a nightmare. Thank you so much Harry," she said touching his arm. Tears came to her eyes. "I don't know what I would have done without you."

Harry stood and moved around the island counter to hold her. "You don't have to think about that. You're safe now."

She nodded into his tear stained shoulder. "Don't tell anyone, please Harry. I know they don't like me going home with random guys and I just don't want to hear about how they were right. I couldn't handle that right now. Please Harry, can we just keep this between us, just for now."

It was Harry's turn to nod reluctantly. "Sure Gin, just between us. For now."

"Thank you, Harry." She said through her tears, wrapping her arms around him.

Harry picked her up in his arms and carried her back to her room. He lay down with her and held her back to his chest.

"Try to get some sleep Gin." He whispered in her ear. "I've got you. I'm not going anywhere."

And suddenly there was no Carly, there was no Evan. It was just two friends keeping away their nightmares.


	3. Chapter 3

The Lion Returns

Harry awoke to the soft sounds of Ginny's breathing. She had rolled over in the middle of the night and he was hugging her back close to his chest. He slowly lifted his arm from her waist and untangled his legs from hers. He rolled sideways out of the bed, careful not to disturb her. Ginny slumbered on, unaware of Harry slipping away from her.

Harry crept across the room and into the hallway. He peered into his own room and found it to be empty. Carly must have left in the middle of the night. Harry assumed that she had spotted him with Ginny. There was a note on his pillow that read "asshole" and nothing else. He chuckled to himself before padding down the hall to the kitchen. He flicked his wand twice and soon coffee was brewing. He picked up the Daily Prophet that had been dropped off on the table by the window and tried to read the day's news without thinking about Ginny. It killed him to think about what had happen, what he had almost let happen under his own roof, in a place that Ginny considered a safe haven in which to house the dread that crept up on her during the night.

She had seemed okay before falling asleep. She was a strong witch who had been through a lot in her twenty-four years. She knew her own strength better that anyone else. Harry knew to trust her judgment. He wasn't sure what was worse. The complete and utter mental estrangement and entanglement that she had been forced to endure during her first year, at the age of eleven, or the fear of a physical relationship taken by force at the age of twenty-four. Harry shook his head slowly. The suffering was supposed to over, he was supposed to have ended it. It was bad enough that fear had to keep resurfacing in the nightmares. It shouldn't become a physical reality as well.

Harry was still dwelling over last night situation when Ron and Hermione appeared in an flourish of green flames from the fireplace.

"Morning Harry." Ron said with a yawn as he stretched his long arms out. He wrapped on heavily around Hermione's shoulders and she seemed to sink under its weight.

"Rough night last night eh?" Harry asked, noticing Ron's disheveled hair, and his relaxed attire of gray sweatpants and a t-shirt.

"No," Hermione said astutely. "He's just milking it, hoping that you'll make him breakfast, since I refuse to make him breakfast to nurse his hangovers."

"Well, that settles it then." Harry stated as he banged his hands on the island counter and stood up. "One big fat hang over breakfast coming up!"

Just then, Ginny ambled out of her room with one of Harry's practice jersey's and his sweatpants rolled at the waist.

"Did I hear hangover breakfast?" she mumbled. "Cause I am desperately in need."

"Why is it always his clothes!" Ron yelled, throwing his hands up in the air. "We have to come up with a name for what they are, Hermione!"

"I take it Evan and Carly didn't stay last night then eh?" Hermione asked, eying Ginny's attire.

Harry's eyes darted between Ginny and Hermione.

Ginny have a non-committal shrug. Hermione just rolled her eyes.

The conversation was forgotten although when the telephone rang in the middle of their hangover feast. Ginny leapt up to get it. She was the only one who got phone calls in the flat. Harry never gave out the number to muggle women. Ginny, on the other hand, gave it out quite frequently to the muggle men that she dated.

"Why do you guys even have that stupid phelly-tone?" Ron asked, though a mouth full of sausage.

Harry, whose mouth was also exploding with sausage and potatoes just pointed at Ginny who was talking animatedly on the phone. Again, eyes were rolled.

Ginny gave one final squeal and came running back over to the table. "Kyle's taking me out tonight!"

Harry was shocked at the news. Maybe Ginny really was okay, maybe she wasn't as shaken as he thought she should be.

"Are you sure you want to go out tonight?" Harry asked in his best parental tone.

Ginny shot daggers at him with her eyes.

"Why wouldn't she want to go out with him tonight?" Hermione asked.

"He stood her up!" Harry and Ron yelled at the same time.

Harry nodded at Ron with appreciation. "Thank you, it's good to see someone has some sense around here."

"No, he didn't stand me up. You see when I called, I left a message for him with his roommate. The roommate must have taken the message down, but never gave it to him. He said he found it this morning when he went to pick up yesterday's paper to throw it in the bin. He says he's terribly sorry and he wants to take me out tonight to the Blue Plug. It's supposed to be this really cool muggle dance club, I guess this guy that hired him to sell his house put him on the list. He said you guys could come too if you wanted to. There's supposed to be some very pretty girls there." She said, batting her eyelashes at Harry.

There was no way Harry was letting Ginny spend the night clubbing without him.

"I'm in." He said automatically.

Ron was nodding slowly. "I'm in if Hermione's okay with it."

"Sure," she said shrugging. "I could do with a good dance club instead of bar for a change."

"Great. Kyle's taking me to dinner first, so I don't know what time we'll end up at the club, but your names will be on the list so head over anytime you want." She pivoted towards the hall on one foot. "Well, I hate to bid you all farewell, but I have to get ready for work. What a riveting summer at St. Mugo's it will be!" she crooned with a dramatically fake sigh.

As she was leaving the room an owl swooped though the window that was always left open for the Prophet. The owl landed on the counter next to Harry and stuck its leg in his sausages. Harry gently untied the letter, and then offered up the rest of his sausage links to the bird. He wasn't eating anything an owl had stepped in.

Dear Mr. Potter,

Congratulations on making England's World Cup team. We look forward to chronicling what is bound to be this legendary event. An interview with the player and their families has been scheduled for tomorrow morning at eleven o' clock. The first photos of the team will also be taken as well, please arrive at ten thirty to receive your uniforms. We look forward to seeing you and your family tomorrow morning.

Sincerely, The World Cup Publicity Department

Harry looked sadly down at the letter. "Did you know about this mate?" He asked Ron, brandishing the letter in front of his face."

"Oh yeah, sorry about that, I wanted to mention it last night but it must have slipped my mind."

"Ron, I haven't got any parents. What am I supposed to do?"

Hermione put her hand on Harry's. "Harry who has watched you grow up since you were twelve year old? Who took you in, celebrated your birthdays, helped protect you throughout your years at Hogwarts? Who knitted you a sweater every Christmas?"

"Do you think your parents would mind?" Harry asked Ron timidly.

"Not at all, I'm sure they'd be glad to do it." Ron said, as he piled a fourth helping of eggs onto his plate.

"Well, I'll have them over for dinner and ask them. Your mum needs a break every once and a while. Would you guys like to come? We'd could just head out to the Blue Slug or whatever that club is called after dinner?"

"If you're cooking, I'm here!" Ron said with enthusiasm.

"Well if we're coming for dinner, eventually you're going to have to stop eating breakfast." Hermione said, with her hands on her hips. "I'm going home. I've got to go into the office for a couple of hours today. I keep finding holes in this new house elf legislature that Trowler's drawing up and I have to make sure he doesn't turn it in to the minister's council before I read over it again. Kingsley would kill me if I handed him that rubbish. I'll probably have to re-write the whole thing myself." Hermione stated in a great huff as she stood. She continued to mutter to herself as she strode towards the fireplace. She threw a handful of floo powder in with great gusto and she swirled out of sight in a mess of green flames.

The rest of the day passed without event, as Ron and Harry hung out in the flat all day talking quittich and playing wizards chess. At the mention of getting dinner started Ron high tailed it out of the flat without so much as a backward glance. Harry was gently stirring his tomato sauce for the lasagna when Ginny appeared in the fire place.

"Hey Gin," Harry said without looking up. "How was work?"

"Frustrating!" She yelled as she made her way back to her room to change. "I just found out that I'm working from three to three tomorrow!"

"That sucks." Harry commented as he appeared at her door with a wooden spoon full of tomato sauce. She had already shed her Medi-Witch robes and was standing in front of her closet in a pair of blue boy short underwear and a tank top.

"Yes I know, my life sucks!" She flailed her arms about dramatically. Harry forced the spoon into her mouth. "That, on the other hand, is quite good." She took another lick, and then proceeded to take the spoon from Harry altogether as she peered into her closet. "And to top it all off, I have no idea what to wear. What do you wear to an upscale dance club that you're going to with a guy you've only been dating for a week, who kind of stood you up the night before, and who is a muggle who has no idea that you're a witch, but who you really might kind of maybe like?" she yelled in one high pitch breath.

Harry grabbed the spoon back out of her hand and took a lick of the sauce for himself. He had to admit that Ginny was right, it was quite good. Ginny snatched it back out of his hand and popped the whole thing in her mouth, relinquishing it of all sauce holding responsibilities. She then stood tapping the spoon against her cheek as she stood next to Harry, and continued to scrutinize her wardrobe. Just as she had decided that she had absolutely nothing to wear, Harry stole the spoon away from her again and began gesturing with it.

"Wear the purple dress." He said, brandishing at it with the spoon. It's more sophisticated than a bar, but the bottom is flows, so you can dance in it easily. Plus it has that built in belt that makes you look super amazing, and wonderfully sexy. As you know I've noticed before." He waggled his eyebrows at her, as she punched him in the arm. "I'm not finished, yet! It's not all about sex appeal! It also has those little tiny straps that make your shoulders look very dainty, and shows off all of your gorgeous freckles that I like to kiss when you lower your standards to let me."

"Shut up Harry Potter." She said punching him once more. "I'm starting to think that the only reason you want me to wear this dress if for you!"

"If I wanted you to wear if for me, I wouldn't be sending you out with Kyle in it." He said making his point. "But if you don't want to take my suggestions, don't. It's neither here nor there to me." He said walking away with the spoon in his hand, tapping against his shoulder.

Harry was layering his lasagna in the pan, when Ginny walked into the kitchen an hour later, freshly showered and dressed. Her hair fell in the same soft waves as the night before and she was adorned in the purple dress that Harry had selected for her, with strappy turquoise heels.

"See, I told you that dress was perfect."

"Yeah, and I'm a little freaked out that you knew that it would be."

"That's what I get for living with you for so long." Harry stated. "Plus, I know what I like."

"Oh come off it Harry!" she yelled, as she strode up to him and pulled the sauce spoon out of the pot. "Mmm" she hummed as she popped it into her mouth. "I'm actually kind of jealous that I don't get to eat dinner here. This sauce is amazing."

Just then there was a knock at the door. "But then again, my fair prince awaits." Ginny sang wistfully. She danced through the kitchen and towards the front door.

"Hi there darling." She flirted as she opened the door. Kyle apparently had nothing to say, he just looked stunned by Ginny's obvious beauty. Harry was suddenly very offended that someone else realized how gorgeous she looked in that dress. "Come on in, come on in, I've just got to grab my bag."

She drug Kyle to the kitchen where she plopped him on stool facing Harry. "I know that you know each other but you've never been properly introduced. Kyle, Harry. Harry, Kyle." She said gesturing to them in turn with the spoon that she was still holding. "Oh, here" she said awkwardly handing the spoon back to Harry, before she walked down hall to fetch her bag.

"Hi" Harry said in obvious discomfort. The lion that had raged once in sixth year had been dormant for so long that he didn't realized exactly what he was feeling at the moment. It had been forever since he had been jealous of a man that Ginny was dating, but now all he wanted to do was pop Kyle's eyes out with his sauce spoon for looking at Ginny with such admiration. But, Ginny was back before Kyle could get a word out. She linked her arm in his and pried him off of the stool.

"Well, were off then. I guess we'll see you at the club later on!" She yelled with a bright smile as they walked out the door.

Harry lost his fake smile as soon as the door closed behind the couple.


	4. Chapter 4

Realization

Hermione arrived shortly after Ginny and Kyle and left to find Harry sitting at the counter chewing on the sauce spoon with a confused look on his face. He hadn't even of seemed to notice her come out of the fire, which he was staring directly into.

"Harry?" She asked slowly.

"Hi Hermione," he replied in a steady monotone.

"Is everything alright?" she stammered, concern plastered all over her face.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He replied in the same monotone.

"Oh come on Harry. I've know you for fourteen years. I know when something isn't right even when you are trying to hide it. I was going to ask if you needed any help with dinner but that can wait. Tell me what's up Harry James Potter."

"I can't."

"Oh yes you can." She stated, her voice rising. "I am your best friend Harry Potter, there is nothing that you cannot tell me. You tell me this instant or I am going to go get Ron."

"No!" Harry shouted, putting his hands up in surrender. "But first you have to swear, absolutely swear that you will not tell a single soul until this whole situation is sorted out. You can't tell anyone, not even Ron."

"What situation?" she inquired.

"You have to swear." Harry said firmly.

"I swear Harry; now just tell me what is going on."

With Hermione's trust under his belt Harry launched into the lengthy explanation of his and Ginny's nightmares and the reasoning behind their many sleeping partners. He explained why they slept in the same bed and how that led to sleeping with each other. He rattled on about how he would have never gone home with Carly if he had know that Kyle hadn't shown up and he was blaming himself before he even explained about the night before with Evan, and how he had provided Ginny with comfort for the rest of the night like he had on many other occasions.

"But this time it was different, you know? It was like I wasn't just keeping her from emotional pain, but from physical pain as well. And then when Kyle walked in here tonight, I just felt so completely and utterly jealous, and protective, and helpless. I wanted to gauge his eyes out with this spoon!" he said waving it in front of Hermione's face. "And she just went off with him like it was no big thing, like last night didn't even happen." He sighed dejectedly and placed his head in his hands.

Hermione had tears glistening in her eyes by the end of the story, and took a moment to compose herself.

"Harry," she said slowly. "I think Ginny's just trying to trick herself into thinking that she is fine. Obviously she can't be one hundred percent okay. She is a strong woman, but no one is that strong. As for your feelings, I assume they're natural. You just rescued Ginny from what could have been the absolute most terrifying experience of her life. You're bound to have a heightened sense of protection after that."

Harry shook his head slowly. "It's more than that Hermione. I know it is."

Hermione nodded. "I know it is too. I know you love her, Harry."

Harry's head shot up in shock. "What?"

"I've seen you the way you look at her, the way you take care of her. You leave warming charms on her breakfast when she sleeps in. You pack her sandwiches and coffee for at work. You make elaborate dinners which you eat by yourself when she doesn't come home and leave warming charms on the dinners that you wish she could have eaten with you. You make sure she's not late for work or school. You sleep with her. Now you've told me that you hold her through the night just to comfort her. You may not realize it Harry Potter, but you are in love with her, not just in a brotherly or even just in a sexual way. You are in love with her in every way."

Harry once again let his head land in his hands, his shoulder sunk. She was right, she was absolutely right, as she always was. "I don't know what I'd do without you, Hermione. I wouldn't even know myself. What am I going to do?" He asked with a hint of pleading in his quivering voice.

"You're going to wait for her. You're going to wait for her like you have been for the last three years."

Harry nodded. He knew she was right, once again.

"You're just so in love with her that you don't have any other choice but to let her be happy, even if that means that she's not with you."

Merlin, he hated that she was right. "Why do you always have to be right, Hermione? How do you know exactly what everyone is feeling? Don't you dare say that I have the emotional range of a teaspoon because this," he said gesturing around himself and his dejected state, "obviously proves that I I've got way more than a teaspoon."

Hermione had to chuckle, but then spoke carefully. "Because I know you Harry, inside and out. You're my little brother, and I love you for exactly who you are. Hopefully Ginny realizes that she loves you as more than a brother and a roommate or you're going to drive yourself crazy now that you're aware of your feelings."

Harry groaned and plopped his head into his hands once more.

Hermione ignored him. "Is there anything that I can do to help with supper? The Weasley's will be here shortly."

Harry pointed to a pot on the stove. "Soup." He muttered feebly.

Hermione took a sip of the broth. "Harry this soup is delicious. I don't know what you think needs to be done to it but it's perfect."

"Salad" he continued pointing to the bowl in which he had already prepared the salad, and dressing.

"Harry everything here is done. It just has to be put in serving bowls."

"Oh, I must have done it after Kyle and Ginny left. Funny, I don't remember…" he trailed off.

"Oh come on Harry! Snap out of it! Ginny loves you too; she just hasn't realized it yet! She's as daft as you are! So, buck up and stop acting like this. Ginny still loves you as her roommate and someday it will be something more, but that day is not today! I'm sorry to be harsh now but this isn't you! You can't sulk around waiting for her or she'll never come. You have to be that Harry that she already knows and loves, not this mess." She said gesturing up and down his body.

Harry stood. "I guess for now that's just going to have to be good enough, eh? Hey, it's not like I haven't been through worse things in my life than unrequited love." He said with a soft chuckle.

"That's the spirit Harry!" Hermione said trying to be encouraging, even if she didn't think that Harry's mind set was of the best attitude. "Now go shower and get dressed while I plate everything, and set the table. You've got sauce all over yourself."

"Ginny loved that sauce." Harry said dreamily. "Maybe if I leave it on my she'll lick if off later." He said, his usual seductive laugh returning to his voice.

Hermione glared at him. "Shower, now!" She yelled, pointing a threatening finger down the hall.

By the time Harry returned from the shower, Ron had arrived and was helping Hermione put the finishing touches on setting the table. Which he heard Hermione yelling at Ron was all he was good for when it came to helping in the kitchen.

Ron quickly pointed the finger of blame at Harry. "You're supposed to be doing this! This is your party and your off taking showers that you should have taken ages ago! Now I'm taking all her abuse."

"Oh Ronald, come off it. When I got here Harry had sauce all over himself and the kitchen. He may be a wonderful cook, but he's a terrible mess."

Ron laughed. "Yeah mate, you do usually look like you've got splattergoit when you're done cooking don't you?"

"Ronald." Hermione scolded.

"It's okay, Hermione. If Ron wasn't taking the mickey out of me, then I would think something was wrong. Just because he can't even lift a soup ladle without setting the kitchen on fire doesn't mean he has to be jealous of what a wonderful cook I am."

Hermione hit them both over the back of the head.

"Bloody hell!" They yelled simultaneously.

"Don't curse!" Molly Weasley chided as she stepped out of the fire.

"You'd think she could hear us in mid-floo, eh?" he asked quietly nudging Harry.

"I wouldn't put it past her." Harry replied with a smirk.

Their bad behavior was soon forgotten as the boys were enveloped in hugs and Harry asked the Weasley's to be his surrogate parents for the interview over the delicious dinner. Molly burst out into tears and quickly began dabbing her eyes with her napkin. Arthur's face glowed with pride as he nodded his approval.

"Oh Harry dear, you know we've always, always thought of you as our seventh boy! We would be honored, just honored!" She exclaimed leaping off her chair and scampering over to Harry and wrapping him in a bone crushing hug. Harry was so relieved that he was positively beaming.

"Do you want to meet me here a little early? I'd like to make you breakfast as a thank you."

"You don't have to thank us Harry! This dinner is already too much!"

"No, the dinner was to ask you. I want to make you breakfast as a thank-you. Besides, I wanted to invite Teddy to come with as well. He would love to meet the team. Plus, I wanted to take him to the first official practice on Monday, but you need security clearance to sit in on them and I thought with you already being there tomorrow, you could sit with him for the first half of the practice, then we can get lunch and I'll take him home." Harry said all this in one breath hoping that she would go along with the plan.

"That sounds wonderful dear. You're such a good godfather." She replied patting him gently on the cheek. "You could do to take a leaf out of Harry's book, Ronald."

"What?" Ron started, his mouth absolutely bulging with lasagna. "I haven't got a god son have I?"

Mrs. Weasley just tutted and shook her head.

The rest of the dinner went off without a hitch. Hermione had just given one last flick of her want so that the plates straightened themselves out in the cupboard.

"There we go." She said with a sharp nod of her head. "Off to the Blue Plug then I guess." She said almost apprehensively.

The trio was soon standing outside of a building with a giant neon blue electrical plug adorning the side of the building. A long line stretched down the block, but Harry saw a man standing with a clipboard and made his way over to him. He gave their names to the man and he crossed them off as he opened to door for them. About five women tried to cram though the door with them, but the large man was having none of it. Harry heard many groans issue as the door closed behind them and they were trapped in what seemed like the inside of a boom box.

There were people dancing everywhere. The music was so loud Harry could barely hear himself think. The bass was pounding in his ears like a bad headache that accompanies a nasty hangover. Harry caught a glimpse of Ginny on one of the balconies and tried to push his way through the dancing mob to get to her.

"You made it!" she squealed at the sight of them, even though Harry could barely make out what she was saying. "Isn't this great?" she inquired with excitement as she gestured out over the club.

"Err, yeah." Harry replied with trepidation.

"What the hell is this place?" Ron yelled, deciding to be a little more blunt with his feelings.

"It's a dance club, you prat!" she yelled back at him.

"Well, I don't like it!" he screamed back over a new louder song.

"What about you lot?" she asked Harry and Hermione.

Harry shook his head slowly. This was definitely not his type of club. He checked to make sure that Hermione shared his opinion before he shook his head with more vigor.

"Oh well," Ginny yelled, Harry caught a hint of disappointment in her voice but he couldn't tell over the fact that she was yelling. "Once I got here, I knew it would be a slim chance that you lot would stay. Go on, get out of here. Me and Kyle are fine here, I'm loving it!" she said giving a little shimmy.

"We're going to Merlin's Hat if you ditch him and want to join us." Ron shouted at her, jerking his head in Kyle's direction where he stood at the bar. "Come on," he yelled to Harry and Hermione. "Let's get the hell out of here."

Harry felt much more comfortable as he left the confines of the club and stepped out onto the street. He could hear three women arguing with the door man, and their voices seemed unusually loud, as if he had just woken up with a hangover. Perhaps, he wondered, they should change the name of the club to Hangover.

"They can have our spots," Harry said wearily to the man of enormous proportions. "We're not coming back." The girls squealed in delight as they flooded into the club.

"Ahhh." Ron let out a sigh as he set down his pint of butter beer. "Now this is more like it, the good ol' Hat."

Harry and Hermione nodded in agreement. The three were sitting around the bar looking out onto the dance floor where couple were spinning about to a Weird Sister's song. Harry thought he spied Parvati and Lavender in the crowd and smiled. As long as Parvati didn't have a date she would go home with him.

He and Parvati had a special relationship. She didn't know the entire story, but he had confessed to her that he didn't like to sleep alone after the war. She also knew that he was not interested in a relationship, and was not always interested in sex. She was a great friend when he needed her to be, and he was there for her when she needed him. He could recall many a time when she had latched onto his arm at a club to make an ex-boyfriend jealous. Sometimes they would just spend the whole night talking.

Soon enough, Parvati came striding through the crowd and wrapped her arms around him like an old friend that he hadn't seen in years. He gave her a kiss on the cheek and hugged her back.

"Who's our target?" he whispered in her ear.

She giggled guiltily. "That sandy haired fellow, just there at the end of the bar, the one in the emerald green shirt."

Harry spied the man, and nodded into her neck, making it look as though he was nuzzling her affectionately. Harry spent the night dancing with Parvati and Lavender and making the sandy haired boy jealous as he snuck Parvati kisses in his obvious direction. George and Bill even showed up for a few drinks later on in the night.

"Fleur's mum is at the house." Bill admitted the reason as to why he left his wife when she was just days away from giving birth to their fourth child. "She's driving me mad. She practically shooed me out of the house, she kept saying that I was getting in the way. In the way of what? Fleur's having the baby at St. Mugo's like she has for the past three. Victore, Molly, and Lucy are so excited that she's there though. She's doing all the stuff with them that Fleur can't at the moment. Merlin's beard I hope this one's a boy." Bill was babbling as he threw back another shot of fire whiskey.

Ron, Bill, and George were all deep in a drunken discussion as to why Harry didn't just stick with Parvati when the pair left for Harry's flat.

"Tea?" Harry asked as they stepped out of the grate. He was already flicking his wand twice. He could hear music playing softly in Ginny's room.

He and Parvati sat at the island counter eating left over soup and sipping decaffeinated tea, while catching up. They had not seen each other in almost two weeks.

"We've been going to muggle clubs, you see. It's Ginny's new thing. It's easy to ditch someone that isn't going to stay with you when they find out what you are anyway. This new one though, Kyle." He jerked his head towards the hall. "She seems to really like him. They've been dating for about a week."

Parvati nodded in understanding. "There is always the mysterious factor when one dates a muggle. I suppose that's what she's after." Harry looked confused. "Don't worry Harry. You'll never understand, it's a girl thing."

Harry seemed content with this explanation because Parvati elaborated no farther but instead launched into the story of the sandy haired boy who Harry found out was named Derek.

They were soon retiring to bed, and Parvati asked nothing more of him than a couple of kisses. She rolled over, dressed in one of his t-shirts, and pressed her back into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly through the night, until he heard a scream.


	5. Chapter 5

Someone Like Me

Harry snatched his wand from the bedside table and was across the room in seconds. Parvati was sitting straight up in bed.

"Stay here." Harry ordered, charging out of the room and across the hall.

Harry flung Ginny's door open with a force that he didn't know he had. As he crashed into the room, he quickly stowed his wand in a secret pocket in his sweatpants. Ginny was thrashing around in bed, screaming into the night, but she wasn't awake. Kyle was desperately trying to soothe the flailing girl, but to no avail. He looked up at Harry terrified at the menacing frame that stood in the doorway. Harry was at the side of the bed in an instant. As Kyle was trying to smooth Ginny's hair in comfort Harry bent over the bed and pried Ginny out of it, and out of Kyle's desperate arms. He guided Ginny's head toward his chest with one hand, and almost instantaneously she became still and silent and her breathing slowed to its regular pace. Kyle had moved to a sitting position on the edge of the bed and was about to say something when Harry wrapped an arm around the front of Ginny and raised a finger to his lips.

"Shhh." He whispered, motioning with his head to Ginny's slumbering form. He jerked his head toward the door, as he carried Ginny out of her room, down the hall and to the living room across from the kitchen. He laid her gently on the sofa so that her back was pressed up against the back cushions of the couch so she would feel like she was pressed against someone's back. He placed one pillow under her head and another under her arm, so she felt like she was clutching someone's arm. He drew a blanket over her, so she felt safe all over. Harry had found her lying on the couch like this many a time when he came back from on the road quittich matches. He hoped that it would work tonight.

Kyle was gaping at Harry, as he led him to the island counter in the adjoining kitchen.

"Coffee?" he asked in hushed tones as he was brewing it. "I think we both need some coffee."

"What the hell just happened?" Kyle demanded.

"I will inform you in just one second. At the moment I have to ensure my date for the evening that everything is okay. I will be right back. Help yourself to the coffee." He said, pointing at the machine.

Harry crept quietly down the hall to his room, where Parvati was still sitting up in bed.

"Everything's fine." Harry explained. "Ginny was just having a nightmare and Kyle didn't know how to control it. I have her safely tucked into the couch. I'm just going to explain everything to him and come back to bed. Go back to sleep, get some rest. I promise everything is fine." Harry added the last sentence at the look of worry that was still plaguing her face. He placed a small kiss on her forehead and left the room.

Harry strode out to the kitchen once more to find Kyle in the living room staring down at Ginny intently. Harry beckoned him over to the kitchen as he poured two cups of coffee. He then sat down so he was facing the back of the couch. He would know if Ginny stirred even an inch. Kyle sat across from him and clutched his mug with both hands.

"What the hell just happened?" Kyle repeated with force.

Harry sighed. "It's a long story. I'm assuming, and I think that I'm correct, that this has never happened before?"

Kyle shook his head.

"Then you need to know the truth." Harry paused for a moment to think about how he could twist the horrifying tale of the waste and destruction of Tom Riddle into a story suitable for muggle ears. He took a deep breath. "About seven years ago Ginny and I witnessed a horrific event. We saw her brother brutally murdered for his money. The police caught the man, but ever since Ginny has been plagued with terrible nightmares, reliving the scene over and over again. She found out a little while ago that if she was sleeping in the same bed as someone a source of comfort was provided and she could sleep peacefully through the night. This is why Ginny was so eager to have you stay over on the first night that she met you and each of the nights that you have gone out so far. You have been her source of comfort for the past week, except for last night." Harry said the last sentence slowly. "Last night when you didn't show Ginny began to panic. She needed to find someone to go home with. She is so terrified of her nightmares that she'll do anything to keep them at bay. She's even slept with me in my room on occasion." Jealously flared in Kyle's eyes. "But alas last night, I had already found myself a tall leggy blonde to bring home for the evening. She came home with Evan." Harry struggled to say these next words. Saying them to Hermione was one thing, but to a complete stranger was another. "Evan tried to rape Ginny last night." He said cautiously. He quickly spat out the next sentence to keep Kyle's rage from boiling over. "I stopped him, before anything could happen, but Ginny was still terribly upset. Obviously I stayed with her last night, lest she dream of those terrifying events seven years ago on top of everything else. And tonight…"

Kyle had cut him off. "But I was here tonight. I was here in the bed, and still…" he trailed off. "She just started thrashing and screaming. I didn't know what to do. But all I was supposed to have to do was be there? And you?" Kyle was stammering now grasping at straws to make sense of the situation.

"I believe I have a solution. You see, while I'm sure that Ginny trusts you when she is awake, I do not think that her body trusts you in her most vulnerable state. She can't distinguish you from someone like Evan. Her body can only sense those that she has known and trusted fully with her body and mind for years."

"But, but how do I get her to trust me in her sleep?" Kyle inquired quickly.

"You'd have to gain it, I suppose. You'd have to spend every night trying to gain Ginny's bodies trust." Harry said carefully.

Kyle was glancing from Harry to the back of the couch where Ginny lay very quickly.

"I'm… I'm…" he stuttered. "I'm only twenty-four. I've only been seeing her for barely a week. How am I supposed to? I really like her; she's wonderful but, everyday for the rest of my life? And how long would it even take? How long before she stopped screaming in her sleep every night? How long have you now her?"

"I've know her since I was twelve year old, thirteen years."

"Thirteen years!" Kyle exclaimed. "I don't know." He stammered. "I don't know." He muttered over and over again. "I can't do this." He decided, placing his palms on the table to stand up. "I'm only twenty-four. I can't decide to spend my entire life with someone that I've only know for a week, let alone spend every night trying to console her. She's a great girl but I just can't commit to something like that. Besides," he said trying to reason with himself, "You'll be here to take care of her, won't you. You'll make sure she's okay?"

Harry nodded his head slowly.

"She'll understand right?" Kyle inquired quickly.

"I think so." Harry said as he continued to nod his head slowly. "Ginny would not expect you to throw your life away for her. She is not unaware of her nightmares."

"Good." Kyle said hastily. "Good, I'll just be going then." He ran out of the kitchen and into Ginny's room. He emerged seconds later fully clothed. He was standing at the door when he decided to allow himself one final look back. He gazed longingly at Ginny, as if he were going to change his mind in a fit of passion. Finally he tore his gaze from her and focused on Harry, who was also watching over the form on the couch. "Take care of her for me." He said, and he was out the door and gone, without another word.

Harry sighed and put his head in his hands like he had done so many times that night already. Evan had made Ginny's nightmares worse, and it looked like he was the only one able to stop them. He stood slowly and made his way back to his room. Parvati was not only sitting up in bed but she had the light on and was getting dressed. Harry looked at her in utter confusion.

"I heard everything." She said with tears in her eyes. "Well I know the truth about the cause of the nightmares, but you couldn't have said that to him could you?"

Harry shook his head solemnly. "Wait." He said holding out an arm to stop her.

"Don't worry Harry, I won't say anything. I promise this will stay between us." She pulled her tank top over her head. "Ginny needs you right now. Merlin knows she needs you more than I do. I'm just glad that I was able to help you." She placed a loving hand on his cheek. "Because I have a feeling that Ginny isn't the only one with nightmares." She said looking knowingly deep into his blazing green eyes. She shrugged her blazer over her shoulders as Harry followed her out of the room.

She stopped in front of the fire place and turned to look back at Ginny, lying on the couch. She stirred in her sleep and Harry was at her side. He placed a soothing hand on her forehead and smoothed her hair out of her face. Ginny stilled instantly. He walked back to Parvati and she enveloped him in a strong hug.

"I just hope that she realizes everything that you've done for her." Parvati whispered in his ear. "I hope one day she realizes that she's just as in love with you, as you are her. I hope that one day; she will hold you like I am right now."

Harry smiled at her weakly. This time, she kissed him gently on his forehead. She threw floo powder into the fire place.

"Good bye, Harry Potter." She said, before she stepped into the grate and disappeared.

Harry quickly turned to Ginny. She had stirred again, and Harry picked her up and carried her carefully to his room where he tucked her into bed, and then curled himself around her, keeping her nightmares at bay.

Ginny awoke peacefully to find herself in Harry's bed, in Harry's arm. She flipped around waking him up in the process. He watched her carefully, waiting for her to speak first.

"Harry? I know I had nightmares last night." she stated slowly. "How did I get here? And where's Kyle?"

"Kyle couldn't keep your nightmares away." Harry explained, hoping that she would realize why herself. "When I found you he was desperately trying to sooth you back to sleep, but it wasn't working. As soon as I touched you, although, you were fine."

Harry looked into Ginny's confused brown eyes, trying to follow the calculations that she was making in her head.

"So Kyle?"

Harry shook his head. "No, I'm sorry. Kyle didn't stay after I explained. He told me that he wasn't ready to commit to spending every night with someone that he had only known a week. It seemed that he did it out of care more than fright. He wanted to make sure that you were cared for, and he wasn't sure that he could do that for the rest of his life."

Ginny was nodding slowly, in the same fashion that Harry had just hours ago as he had listened to the same speech.

"So you don't think?"

Harry interrupted her, reading her mind. "No, I don't think just anyone will do anymore. It's got to be someone that not only you know and trust, but that your body, without your mind knows and trusts fully."

"Like you." She said softly, it was not a question.

Harry nodded. "Like me."

"Will you Harry? I mean every night?"

"Every night that I possibly can. You know I would. You don't even have to ask."

Ginny nodded again. She could feel her eyes growing heavy again. She was not ready to be awake. Harry noticed and moved her head to his chest once more with a gently hand.

"Go back to sleep Gin. Don't worry. I'll be here in the morning." He kissed her on the forehead as she nodded sleepily. Soon her breaths became the slow and even breaths that Harry had come to recognize. "I love you, Ginerva Weasley." He whispered as he kissed the top of her head. Harry thought she nodded her head slightly through her slumber, but there was no way of telling if she had heard him or not.

A few hours later, Ginny ambled into the kitchen with the smell of banana nut muffins wafting through the air. Harry was on his customary stool reading the Daily Prophet.

"Morning darling." He said absently. "I didn't think you'd be up this early. Even I only got up to make the muffins for breakfast with your parents and Teddy."

Ginny let out a large yawn. "The smell of those muffins lured me out of bed."

"I just put them in a few minutes ago. You've got a true Weasley nose if you could smell them all the way back in the bedroom."

Ginny nodded sleepily. "Go back to bed. Don't worry; I'll put a warming charm on some muffins and a plate of breakfast for you. And I'll be home for lunch. I'm bringing Teddy back for lunch after the interviews. Go get some more sleep. You're going to have to be at work for twelve hours straight starting at three this afternoon."

Ginny groaned. "Oh Merlin, I'd forgotten it was twelve hours."

"Go back to bed Gin," Harry said softly with a kiss on her forehead.

With that she obeyed and ambled back to the bedroom the same way she had come out, groggy with sleep. Harry chuckled to himself at her unusual obedience and went back to reading his paper.

Soon enough the Weasley's were there and along with his godson Teddy they were enjoying a smorgasbord of a breakfast before the interviews.

"I just want to thank you both again, so much for doing this for me." Harry said for the sixth time as they walked through the hall to the press room at the quittich stadium.

"Don't you mention it again." Mrs. Weasley chided again. "We're happy to do it, aren't we Arthur."

"Yes, quite happy." He said absently as he watched Harry hoist the seven year old Teddy onto his shoulders. Teddy was gazing around intently, amazed to be on the inside of a quittich stadium other than Puddlemore United's.

"This is the Tornado's stadium" he explained to the child. "It's the newest stadium of them all, so this is where all of England's home games will be played this summer."

"Do I get to come to them?"

"You bet buddy! You get to come to them all!" Teddy squealed excitedly at the prospect of going to every home match. Then suddenly he shrieked and he was lifted off of Harry's shoulders by an invisible force.

Harry whipped around and pulled his wand from his robes in one motion, only to find himself pointing his wand into the face of Oliver Wood, who had plopped Teddy upon his own shoulders. Teddy was twisting around wildly as Wood tickled him under his knees while keeping a firm hold on them.

Harry took a deep breath and let out a sigh of relief. He stowed his wand back in his robes and smiled awkwardly at Wood, as Teddy proclaimed, "Chill out Uncle Harry, it's just Wood!"

A smile stretched across his face as he realized that Teddy could rightfully say the words 'chill out' to what had been one of Harry's most frightening experiences in a long time. The thought of losing his godson was unbearable.

"Yeah mate," Wood said, clapping a hand down on Harry's shoulder. "Don't worry so much."

"Easy for you to say," muttered Harry.

The interviews went off without a hitch. The reporter even took a shot of Harry and Teddy to put in the paper with a comment that Teddy had willingly shouted at the reporter. "My Uncle Harry is the best seeker ever!"

Harry thanked the Weasley's again before the apperated back to the Burrow. Harry instead made his way over to a large bank of fireplaces into which he and Teddy stepped into and reappeared in the living room of his flat.

"Stinky Ginny!" Teddy yelled as soon as he stepped into the living room. "Oh Stinky Ginny!" He yelled again, peering around the corner of the couch.

"I thought I smelled something!" Ginny yelled in reply as she appeared in the hall. "It's Stinky Teddy!" she yelled as she picked him up in a hug and spun him around. She set him back down on the floor and they proceeded to do their secret handshake, ending with both of them holding their noses and shouting "pee you!" as if a skunk had just walked in front of them.

Harry took his time preparing lunch while Ginny played with Teddy in the guest bedroom that had become more his than anyone else's. As soon as he announced that lunch was ready he heard a great clamoring through the hall and saw them both come bursting out into the kitchen. Teddy crawled up onto his stool.

"I won Stinky Ginny, I won!"

Ginny stuck her tongue out at him and plopped down on her stool as Harry pushed plates of turkey sandwiches in front of them.

"Here you are children." He said putting emphasis on the last word, staring at Ginny as he did so.

"Hey Stinky Teddy told me it was a race. Who was I to back down and dash the dreams of the stinky boy?"

Teddy let out a snicker.

"Oh you think it's funny do you?" Harry asked a mock stern tone on his voice.

Teddy nodded dynamically.

"Well I do too!" Harry exclaimed, as he wrapped Teddy in a one armed hug.

It was two thirty and the giggling trio was just finishing lunch when a head popped in the fireplace and called out Ginny's name. Ginny was bent over at the grate for no longer than a minute when she stood and announced that she had to go into work early. Their newest Medi-Witch in the maternity department had just fainted at the sight of her first birth and they needed someone to come in so another Medi-Witch could look after her.

Ginny stormed back to her room, and threw on her blue Medi-Witch robes. Harry handed her two thermoses of coffee and two banana nut muffins as she came back through the kitchen. He gave her a peck on the cheek, and after another round of the secret handshake and a rather forceful "pee you!" Ginny was gone.

"Come on, Ted man. Let's go get some ice cream and visit Uncle George at the joke shop. You look like you need some sweets."


	6. Chapter 6

For Now or Forever

Harry walked down the street of Diagon Alley, hand in hand with Teddy as he tried to wrestle with the knot that was currently occupying the pit of his stomach. The lion that had inhabited it had fled in fear of this new confusing situation. He was in a position in which he just didn't know how to proceed from here. It was a feeling that he was all too familiar with when it came to Ginny Weasley. He didn't know how to express his feelings towards her when she was with Dean, or right after they had broken up, losing him many wonderful hours that he could have spent by the lake with her. He didn't know how to act after the war either. He knew that he wanted to be with Ginny, so they got back together. But he realized much later that the relationship hadn't worked because they had both grown up too much over the past year. They were much older and mature adults, maybe not in appearance but in spirit. The problem was they were trying to act like the people that they had been in sixth year. Even though everyone seemed to be pushing for it, they could not longer have a simple, carefree relationship. Too much had happened to both of them. Harry had suffered while searching for the horcruxes while Ginny suffered with the hostile takeover of Hogwarts. Neither was able to be there for the other in their time of need. In the force of trying to make a relationship for a seventeen and eighteen year old work, with the spirits of perhaps thirty year olds they poured their adult feeling out in letters, and tried to be kids when they were around each other. The result had perfectly molded their once passionate relationship into a deep and lasting friendship.

_But I was fine with that friendship_. Harry thought viciously to himself, yelling at the knot in his stomach.

A voice that sounded very much like Hermione's responded. _But then you had to protect her again._

Was that it? Was it all about protection?

_No, it's not. I know it's not. It's more than that. I love her. I've loved her for years and I didn't have to protect her._

_What about the nightmares?_ Asked the voice again. _You do have sort of a saving people thing._

_But Ginny doesn't need me to save her! She relied on loads of guys!_

_Until last night!_ The voice sang in his ear.

Harry shook his head, while Teddy gazed up at him in confusion.

It was true. Until last night Ginny's nightmares could be vanquished by almost anyone, her body didn't have a reason not to trust. Until the night before last, Evan ruined her body's trust. It was now only Harry's arms that kept the nightmares away. Harry assumed that any of her brothers, Hermione, Luna, and Neville would have the same effect, but Ginny wouldn't want to share a bed with any of them.

_I'm the only one she can share a bed with for the rest of her life, unless she wants to have terrible nightmares. Does that me that we're together now?_

_She could find someone else._ Chided the voice.

_But she'd have to have nightmares until her body learned to trust them. I don't know if she could take that. _

_She or you?_

_I couldn't. I couldn't wake up every night to the sound of her screaming and not do anything as some incompetent guy tried to soothe her when all I have to do is touch her and she's alright._

Harry let out a sigh. He was sick of arguing with his brain. He would just wait for Ginny. At the very least he knew that he wanted Ginny to be happy.

"Uncle Harry!" Teddy looked up at him with an innocent face.

"Yeah bud?"

"Do I really have to hold your hand? I am seven!" He glanced around at the crown embarrassed.

Harry looked around the street as well. All around him people were strolling through the streets, laughing without a care in the world. Children ran up and down past the shops, going in and out as they pleased, even children as young as Teddy were straying ahead of or behind their parents.

Harry wrapped a strong arm around Teddy's shoulders and hugged him to his leg. "Yeah bud, you have to hold my hand. You never know what could happen, and I can't lose you."

"Oh come on! You and Grandma are both so paranoid!"

"That's what happens when you fight in a war." Harry wasn't sure what to say, this was the first time Teddy had ever expressed any opposition to holding his hand. He would have to have a talk about it with him later. "Who taught you that word anyway?"

"Stinky Ginny." Teddy said in a huff.

Stinky Ginny wasn't exactly having the most wonderful afternoon herself. St. Mugo's was just starting it's summer Medi-Witch training program so as the ranking Medi-Witch on duty Ginny was showing a pile of new trainee's the storage room. She handed out diagrams and talked in a monotone about where nappy's and bottles were stored. She had been in the storage room so many times she didn't even have to think about the words that were coming out of her mouth. Instead, her thoughts wondered to Harry and the previous nights.

_What's going to happen now?_ She thought to herself, as she pointed to a stack of gentle use wash clothes. _Does this change the relationship between me and Harry? If I have to sleep in the same bed as him every night does that automatically move our relationship to a new level. Do we even have a relationship now?_

_Yes,_ a voice in the back of her head that sounded oddly like Luna and Hermione. _A friendship is a relationship. _

_Does that change now? Is Harry my boyfriend now?_

_You could find someone else._ The voice taunted.

_And endure night after night of endless nightmares before I can trust someone completely? No, sorry, not likely._

_Then you're stuck with him._

_I'm not stuck with him, he's Harry. This isn't a bad thing; it's just a new thing. I would never consider myself stuck with someone unless I didn't like them._

_I don't think that you have yet grasped the fact that you are going to be with this boy forever._

_Forever. _The word echoed back and forth in her head, as she pointed out the way the baby blankets were supposed to be folded for easy unfurling before they were put away, and sorted by color.

_Does Harry think that we're together now?_ Was the question that was resounding in her head as she led the students back to their classroom, where Ginny knew they would receive a quiz on what she had just taught them.

Ginny strolled down the corridor towards the New Born Center, or the NBC. No witch worked in any one special department all of the time. They were assigned different departments within the maternity ward on any given day. Ginny's favorite department was the Birthing Center. She was going to become a Healer that specialized in the birth process, all the way from insemination to birth. She was assigned to the birthing center that day. She had requested to be in the Birthing Center for the next few days because Fleur was due to have her baby at any time. Since the first birth that she had got called in early for, no other "almost-mommies" as she and co-workers jokingly called them had come in. Her wand would vibrate if they did. So Ginny was going to visit the babies that had been born yesterday and last night while she continued to think about Harry.

_Nothing has changed._ She mused. _ Harry has always made my meals for me, and kept them warm, and packed my lunch. He's always been a flirty best friend. He's always given me kisses on the cheek and the forehead, even occasionally on the shoulder. He does that to Parvati and Lavender as well. _

_But those could easily be steady relationship things as well. Things a husband does for a wife. _The voice returned.

_Yeah but even if we were in a relationship, it would not be a steady relationship yet. And we're certainly not married._

_You might as well be if you're going to be with him forever. _The voice reasoned.

_No. _Ginny shook her head, as one of the babies stared up at her in what appeared to be amusement. _We're not married, we're not boyfriend and girlfriend, we're just friends, that's our relationship._

_For now._ The voice stated getting the final word in, that Ginny could not bring herself to argue with.

As soon as Ginny bent down to pick up a little girl that she had helped deliver just before the end of her shift her wand began to vibrate.

"Of course," she declared to Eleanor, the healer in charge of the New Born Center. "As soon as I go to pick a baby up I've got to go pull one out of someone!"

Eleanor snorted, and the baby she was feeding beamed up at her.

"Bye, Leanne." Ginny said, tickling the baby's stomach with one finger, before she turned and left the ward.

Ginny was more than pleased when she saw the flowing whips of brilliant blonde hair that indicated Fleur was there. What was more obvious was what she was yelling. She was refusing to go into her room.

"I want Ginny. Where 'ees she? I will not do this without 'er."

"I'm right here Fleur. I'm right here!" she yelled as she came sprinting down the hallway, eager to get Fleur into her room. She had helped Fleur with the births of both Molly and Lucy. She had been in the room for Victorie's birth, having been chosen over Fleur's own sister Gabrielle.

"You are a woman of the world," her mother had explained to her. "Fleur values your life experience and support when it some to this sort of stressful situation. You and Fleur have been through much more than she and Gabrielle together in these past years. She needs you now."

Ginny smiled at the memory. That was the night she and Fleur had stopped being sister-in-law's and became sisters.

Three hours later almost the entire family was in the waiting room. Hermione was entertaining Molly and Lucy; while Teddy and Victorie were playing a game they had title "Whose Card is Highest?" with a muggle set of playing cards. Harry had removed the face cards and had used the cards to help the children learn the order of numbers one through nine when they were younger and he would babysit the two. The cards were now very worn and the rules had become more complicated with their years. It was impossible for any adult to play with them for the rules continued to change according to the whims of the children.

Arthur and Fleur's father were occupying the chairs closest to the door and had taken to nervously checking their watches. They were currently comparing the times on each other's watches with the time shown on the clock above the entry way in the waiting room, and muttering quietly to each other.

Harry was sitting in the chair closest to Teddy and Victorie who had chosen to play their game sprawled on the floor. Hermione was sitting in the middle of the floor with Molly and Lucy, who all were playing with the dolls that Fleur had knowingly packed in her hospital bag.

Two hours ago when Molly was unpacking Fleur's bag and lying out her pajama's she had stumbled across the dolls.

"Did the girls help you pack dear?" she asked with an amused smile on her face, holding the dolls up to Fleur.

"No, they are for the girls. They will get bored without them." Her accent disappeared through her clenched teeth.

Ginny had laughed, but knew what a wonderful mother Fleur was for thinking of her little girls when she had packed her bag. She only hoped that she would be that good of a mother one day.

Ron was slumped in a chair reading the Evening Prophet, while Charlie was snoring with his head on Ron's shoulder. Molly had sent him a patronus that has said "Come quick, Fleur hurry!" And he had quickly fled from Romania only to find that there was no real emergency. He was currently dealing with the exhaustion that came with the exertion that it took to apperate across a several countries.

Percy was working late, but Penelope was sitting in the chair farthest away from the door, wringing her hands and glancing nervously down at her small baby bump every few seconds. George was pretending to flirt with one of the new Medi-Witches for Angelina's amusement, a large engagement ring shone on her finger.

Molly, Fleur's mother, and Bill were all shoved into Fleur's room with Ginny two other Medi-Witches and a healer. At this point Ginny was continually making complicated wand movements over Fleur's stomach to monitor the baby throughout the birth. Fleur was getting ready to push. Ginny ordered one of the other Medi-Witches to take over for her as she bent low near the Healer.

The baby was in his hands, and then it was in Ginny's. The Healer declared the baby a boy, as Bill sliced the umbilical cord with his wand. Ginny held the baby and moved her wand over him, determining that he weighed seven pounds five ounces and was forty-nine centimeters long. She wrapped her nephew in a blue blanket and placed him in Fleur's arms.

"Look at our boy." Bill whispered in his wife's ear, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"'E is beautiful." Fleur breathed.

"He had red hair!" Molly exclaimed in excitement.

"'E has his grandfathers nose." Fleur's mother declared regally.

Ginny smiled as she stood back and watched the scene unfold. "He's perfect. Oh, what is his name?" she asked.

Fleur looked at Bill and he gave a firm nod.

"Ronald Fredrick Weasley." Bill said.

"But we shall call him Ronnie." Fleur added. "To match our girls, Victorie, Molly, Lucy, and Ronnie." She said with a matter-of-fact nod of her head.

"Can I?" Bill asked Fleur, motioning towards the door with his head.

"But of course." She replied, handing their son to Bill.

Bill strode across the room, the grandmothers in his wake and entered the waiting room.

"I'd like to introduce you all to Ronald Fredrick Weasley," he said to the room as he gazed intently at the baby.


	7. Chapter 7

Stories, Lightning, and Kisses

Harry had always tried to be eye to eye with his godson whenever he had something serious to talk about with him. When he was younger, and he had explained about his parents, he has stood him up on a stool while holding onto his waist. Teddy was too tall to be placed on a stool now. He was resting on the arm of the sofa while Harry sat on a stool facing him. They had just eaten supper after returning from St. Mugo's.

"You have to realize something, buddy." Harry said placing his hands on Teddy's small shoulders. "It wasn't like it is today during the war. When we were fighting you never knew who could be taken away from you, at a moment's notice." He hung his head down thinking of Fred. "When you're least expecting it."

Harry had always talked to Teddy like an adult when it came to explaining about the war. It didn't suit him to sugar coat it and provide Teddy with a false reality. These honest discussions had made Teddy wise for his seven years.

"Like my parents?" Teddy asked cautiously.

Tears filled in Teddy's eyes. "Yeah, bud, like your parents."

"Did I ever tell you that I had a godfather?"

Teddy nodded. "Sirius, or Snuffles, or Padfoot, or something like that right? I always hear people talking about him."

Harry nodded. "Your dad called him Padfoot. During the war my godfather was taken away from me. I lost my parents, just like you, but I lost my godfather as well, along with many of my friends, including your wonderful parents. I know that the war's over now." Harry continued heeding off the position that he knew Teddy would take. "Even though it is, I still can't bear the thought of losing someone else that I hold so dear." Tears were running down Harry's cheeks now. "I can't bear for it to be my fault if I would lose you. So I'm sorry, but you can beg, cry, and scream all you want, but until I decide that you're old enough, you'll be holding my hand when we go out."

Teddy nodded solemnly, he knew he was defeated.

"I love you Teddy." Harry said, as he wrapped Teddy in a hug.

"I love you too Uncle Harry."

Soon they were making smores in the fire place and Harry was regaling Teddy with tales of his father.

"So he takes the map that had been insulting Snape from him, and tells him that it's a Zonko's product! But guess what? He himself had help create it! Your dad was Moony! He calls me back to his office, doesn't get me in trouble at all, and guess what? When he left at the end of the year, he gave it back to me!" Harry said laughing at the memory. "Did you know that your dad was an incredibly brilliant wizard?"

Teddy shook his head. "Grandma always say's that he was brave."

"Oh he was." Harry reassured him. "But, he was much more then brave. He was kind, and loving, and loyal. He was incredibly smart, just like you." He touched Teddy on the nose. "He was a great man your father." Harry said nodding slowly. "Your mother too, she was an amazing witch. You get your knack for brightly colored hair from her." He continued to nod to himself. He looked down at Teddy, and saw him mimicking his nod, as if he knew firsthand how great they had really been. Tears welled in his eyes again but he forced them back. He had to be happy for Teddy.

Harry was carrying Teddy back to bed from where he had been sleeping on the floor of the living room, just as raindrops began to drop softly on the windows. Harry returned to the living room and picked the blankets and pillows up off of the floor while rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He moved to the kitchen where he pulled a large slab of left over lasagna from the fridge. He heated it with his wand and then placed a warming charm on the plate to keep it hot for when Ginny got home. He knew she would be hungry, and she loved his lasagna. He ambled off to bed as the rain began to be pick up it's gently pace and become steady.

Harry awoke, with a clap of thunder. He could see a form moving about the room, and quickly registered that it was Ginny. She hadn't notice him wake up so he just lay back and watched her move as she was illuminated by lightning. Every time a bolt struck her red hair flashed back, as if it were responding. He watched he pull a pair of his boxer shorts on over his underwear, and slip one of his t-shirts over her head.

She realized he was awake when she crawled into bed facing him, and he couldn't help but put a hand on her hip.

"Harry…" she started, but was cut off by a particularly loud clap of thunder and a crying coming from the hall. Harry sat up quickly but before he could even touch his wand the crying came to him in the form of Teddy. He ran across the room and launched himself into the bed clinging to Harry for dear life.

"Did the thunder scare you bud?" Harry asked softly. Teddy nodded vigorously into Harry's tear soaked chest.

Ginny rubbed Teddy's back gently. "Do you want to stay in here with us for the rest of the night, Stink?"

He nodded into Harry's chest once more, as Ginny wrapped her arms around both of them. They quickly got Teddy to calm down and soon he was lying between them. Ginny wrapped her arms around both of them once more, giving Harry a kiss on the cheek.

"Good night my boys." She said lovingly. She bent her head down to kiss Teddy on the top of his head, as Harry kissed his forehead. As their heads rose they looked each other in the eyes during a flash of lightning. Ginny tilted her head and kissed Harry slowly on the lips. He kissed her back, but all too quickly she was pulling away, and was snuggling under the covers. She and Teddy lifted the covers over their heads and soon they were giggling at the whispered stories that they were telling each other. Harry resigned to the fact that he wasn't going to be falling asleep any time soon and slipped under the covers with them with his wand, lighting what Teddy would soon call their tent held up by Ginny and Harry's heads, with his wand.

Harry awoke the next morning to find himself curled up at the end of his bed, his feet brushing against Ginny's. His eyes scanned across the bed to find Teddy laying across the bed as well, using Ginny's stomach as a prop for his pillow. Somewhere in the middle of the night he had fetched his favorite blanket and his stuffed wolf, because he was clutching them tightly now. Harry rolled off the foot of the bed and pocketed his wand. He gently removed Teddy's head from Ginny's abdomen and woke him up quietly.

The pair tip-toed silently across the room, and into the kitchen where Molly Weasley found them an hour later covered head to toe in pancake batter that Teddy had his elbows deep in trying to stir in a large bowl.

She laughed heartily at them, but graciously cleaned Teddy up while Harry got to work on the pancakes. There was soon a large stack of them sitting on the counter that the three dove into.

"Where's Ginny this morning?" Molly inquired. "She doesn't usually miss one of your breakfasts if she can help it."

Harry tapped the schedule that Ginny has spello-taped to the fridge. "She's working another twelve hour shift today, from noon to midnight. She's sleeping in until the last possible second. I feel so bad for her; they're going to run that girl ragged."

"She's been there too long and is too good for them to be giving her hours like this." Mrs. Weasley commented.

"Well that's just the thing isn't it? She's been there so long; most of the people working there are new so the higher ranking Medi-Witches have to be there at all times to watch over them. There are just not enough of them to go around for them to have normal hours. Once they get this lot trained up perfectly she'll be back to normal."

"I sure hope so. But it'll be back to hours like this when she's a Healer and she's getting called in at all hours of the night to deliver babies. I do worry about her."

"You don't have to. Ginny can handle it; she's amazing at her job."

"Oh I know dear, she was just so wonderful with Fleur last night. She's going to make a wonderful Healer."

Harry nodded his agreement before getting up to change for practice, asking Molly to get Teddy dressed and ready for the day. His day of practice was ten hours long. Practice for four hours from seven to eleven, two hours for break and lunch, and then four more hours of practice from one to five. Teddy was to watch the first half of the practice with Grandma Weasley and would then be dropped off at his grandmother's house. Before they left the house, Harry put a warming charm on the remaining pancakes and packed Ginny a turkey sandwich for lunch.

"Why can't I have lunch with you?" Teddy whined as they made their way towards the fireplaces after Teddy's shower.

"I'm sure your Grandma misses you very much! She's not going to want to waste any time in seeing you. I'm sure she has a big lunch cooked up for you when we get there!"

"But I want to eat with you!"

"I'll stay and eat with you, but we do have to get you home to your grandma's house."

Teddy stomped his feet reluctantly as they stepped into the green flames, but held on to Harry's hand tightly as they were whisked away to the home of Andromeda Tonks.

"Oh Teddy!" she squealed as they stepped through the grate. She swept him up in a big hug. "I've made lunch for you, all your favorites." She said gesturing to the plate of roast beef sitting on the counter. "I was going to make it for dinner, but I just couldn't help myself. Harry, you'll stay for lunch won't you?"

"Of course, Andromeda, Teddy wouldn't want it any other way." He said as he looked down at the little boy staring up at him.

After a large lunch and many tight hugs from Teddy, Harry stepped into the fireplace and returned to his flat. He was hoping to catch Ginny with a half hour left before she had to go to work, but she was already gone when he got home. She had probably gone to visit Fleur and Ronnie, who both had to remain under observation for twenty-four hours according to St. Mugo's policy, just to make sure everything was fine. Even though he knew he wouldn't get the chance to talk to her at the hospital he decided that he would do the same.

Harry was strolling toward Fleur's room when he passed the large window that looked in on the viewing room of the New Born Center. It wasn't the babies that had captured his eye, but a Medi-Witch with brilliant red hair.

Ginny was holding Ronnie, the tiny baby with a tuft of red hair in her arms. She was slowly rocking him back and forth, and her whole body swayed with the motion. She ran a soft finger across his forehead before bending her neck to place a small kiss on his miniscule nose. Her lips began to move slightly and Harry knew that she was singing to the child. He couldn't take his eyes off of her as she spun in circles with the sleeping baby, dancing to her own soft tune. He couldn't help but think that maybe one day this would be his baby that she held in her arms. He watched for almost half an hour as Ginny continued to rock Ronnie back and forth. He only tore his eyes away from her and continued down the hall towards the proud new parents, when he saw her move to lay the baby back in his bassinette because her shift was about to begin.

Ginny bent low over Ronnie's bassinette and as she gave him one last kiss on her forehead she wondered if maybe one day she would be dancing with her and Harry's child in her arms.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: I am a terrible Harry Potter fan and knew nothing of the family tree that J.K. Rowling had drawn out. Therefore I knew nothing of Dominique or Louis… Victorie, Molly, and Lucy are all Bill and Fleur's children.

Nightmare's Will Keep Us Together

Harry arrived home from practice completely and utterly exhausted. He knew that the whole week would be like this, they were really testing all of their strengths and weaknesses to find the best possible seven for the starting lineup. Harry thought that he had certainly proved his worth when he was dangling from his broom from one hand, but still managed to aim a kick at the snitch, much like a hacky sack and knock it into his hand. Harry chuckled to himself when he remembered the look of astonishment on Wood's face.

Even though he had showered at the pitch Harry stepped into the shower again, letting the hot water flow over his neck and back. He felt his muscles begin to relax almost immediately. He needed to be as relaxed as possible before he went to bed. The more relaxed he was, the longer it took for the nightmares to start. Ginny wouldn't be home until midnight and with the day he had, he knew he would crash long before that. He counted himself lucky that he had not had a nightmare the night before. He had an odd suspicion in his gut that the clap of thunder had waked him up just before they were due to start. The thunder had sounded oddly like a hex being thrown, and hitting a Hogwarts statue.

He moved quickly from the shower and began one of his other favorite calming activities, cooking. He knew that he would be the only one home to eat it, but he loved cooking. He would just leave a plate for Ginny under a warming charm.

It was six when he began to prepare braised pork loin, garlic onion potatoes, and pan seared lemon string beans. It was seven thirty by the time he dove into his creation, by nine after washing the dishes, setting a warming charm, and taking another long relaxing shower, he was crawling into bed, wishing for Ginny to get off of early.

Ginny arrived home from work completely and utterly exhausted. She looked at her watch; it was going on one in the morning. When she was scheduled to leave she was in the middle of a very difficult birth, and was not switching out with a Medi-Witch that wasn't versed in the needs of the patient. She had stayed and seen the birth through. Now she was beat. She was almost ready to just march straight back to bed and fall asleep in her work robes when she spied the steam coming off of the plate of braised pork loin sitting on the island counter. She suddenly realized just how hungry she was and after changing out of her work robes and into Harry's boxers and a tank top she attacked to plate with vigor. She was a Weasley after all.

It was quarter after one as she was setting her plate to be washed in the morning that she heard the distressing tone leak from down the hall.

_Harry._

She darted down the hall and skidded into the bedroom as she heard him scream "no!" into the dark room. She hurried to the bed where he was tossing and turning and slipped in next to him. She wrapped a pale arm around his waist and pulled his back to her stomach. Soon his quivering began to slow and his mutterings ceased. She felt him relax in her arms. She kissed the back of his head gently. Harry was sleeping peacefully now, but she was wide awake.

_How could I have been so selfish? _She asked herself. _I've been going on about what this means for me and what I want, and if Harry thinks that we're together now, but I've never once stopped to think about him. If he is the only one who I can sleep with for the rest of my life then that means I'm it for him too. He has nightmares just as bad as I do, and where was I when I needed him? Thinking about if I actually wanted to spend the rest of my life with him as I ate that wonderful dinner that he had made for me. _Ginny thought savagely. _I'm such a prat. He needs me as much as I need him._ Ginny suddenly came to a realization. _And that need bonds us, it creates a relationship._

Suddenly Ginny had no problem with the prospect of spending the rest of her life sleeping next to Harry Potter.

_But I haven't even considered what he wants yet. What if he doesn't want to? _

_He has to._ The voice demanded.

_No, he doesn't. I won't make him. If I've decided anything at all tonight it's that I want Harry to be happy, even if he's not with me, even if I have to have nightmares every day for the rest of my life. It's worth it, for everything that he's done for me. I just want him to be happy because I…_

_Because what dear?_

_Because I…_

_Come on, out with it._

_Because I love him. I love this boy… this man… I love this boy that slipped into becoming a man before my very eyes and I didn't even realize it. _

_What was that?_

_I love Harry Potter. _Ginny decided firmly, throwing the voice out of her head, before her eyes closed softly and she drifted off happily to sleep.

Ginny awoke smiling at five thirty in the morning. She slipped out of bed silently with the intention of cooking up a big breakfast for Harry to say thank you for all that he had done for her this past week. Plus, she desperately needed to talk to him about what was or was not going on between them. She needed to know if he returned the feeling.

When she reached the end of the hall she found that her idea had been commandeered by Hermione, and presumably Ron who at the moment was snoring with his head in his hands at the counter.

"Let me guess," Hermione insisted astutely. "you wanted to cook Harry breakfast to show your appreciation?" she asked raising an eyebrow.

"Something like that yeah." Ginny replied shrugging slightly.

"Good." Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. "You can help me then. Ron's no use." She said jerking her thumb behind her toward the snoring form of her husband.

Ginny suppressed a laugh as she moved into the kitchen to help Hermione prepare breakfast. Just as they were piling sausages high on a plate right in front of Ron's nose Ginny grabbed a pot and a metal spoon. She placed the pot near Ron's ear and rattled the spoon inside. Ron woke up so fast that he threw himself off of his stool and almost tipped a pitcher of pumpkin juice onto the floor. Ginny caught the juice, but allowed Ron to fall to the floor with a hard thud.

She was standing at the end of the counter laughing at him, as he struggled to get back on his stool due to his shock when she felt a hand rest on her him.

_Harry_ she sighed inwardly.

As Harry strode down the hall he was vaguely aware of Ginny putting an end to his nightmares the night before. He was pleasantly surprised to find her standing at the end of the island, in a tank top, instead of a t-shirt, showing off all of her glorious freckles. He knew that he couldn't contain himself, so he tried to keep it friendly, and did something that he would normally do.

He placed a hand on her waist. He bent down and kissed her shoulder, then ran his hand across the small of her back and kissed her other shoulders.

Ginny tried to keep her face from showing its bliss. Harry had just kissed her shoulder. It was something that he had done a million times but this time his lips seemed to linger longer, as if they never wanted to let go. It was as if the only reason the kiss stopped was because someone was prying him away. Goosebumps traveled up her spine, as his hand traveled across it. The second kiss was short, as it normally would have been, but she could have swore that she felt his teeth rake lightly across her skin.

Ginny felt like he was going to erupt when Ron yelled. "Oi, what's that all about?"

Hermione smacked Ron on the back of the head. "Oh come on! It's not like you haven't seen it before! You know Harry loves freckles! He's always kissing her shoulders, just like he's always kissing her cheek and her forehead."

Hermione had burst her bubble of elation. He did kiss her shoulders all the time. Maybe she was just imagining the additional sexiness because she wanted to. She didn't know what to think now, but she couldn't say anything to him in front of Ron and Hermione. Why were they even here anyway? Suddenly she remembered the purpose of the breakfast.

"Surprise, Harry!" she yelled gesturing to the table laden with breakfast. "We've made you breakfast for all of the breakfasts, lunches, and dinners that you have prepared for us."

"We just wanted you to know that we do know how to fend for ourselves, even if it seems like we can't." This comment earned Ron a smack on the head from both Ginny and Hermione as they rattled on about how there was no way Ron could fend for himself, as he had spent the whole morning sleeping upright as they had made breakfast.

"Thanks guys!" Harry yelled over the din as his friends continued to argue.

By the start of the second practice of the day Harry was kicking himself for kissing Ginny on the shoulders like that. What was he thinking when he had touched her skin with his teeth? He was thinking that after that first kiss it was like a drug and he needed more of it. Ginny was working a normal shift from seven to five and he was dreading the fact that he would actually have the chance to talk to her. He knew he had to get his feelings out or he would drive himself insane. He was just scared to death that she wouldn't feel the same way and that she would subject herself to nightmares just to get away from him.

_But what about my nightmares then? Can I really move on from her after this? _

"Get your head on the pitch, Potter!" Wood shouted at him as he drifted near the goal posts. He had narrowly missed being hit by a bludger. "I don't know what you think you're doing out there, but you're never going to be the starting seeker if you plan on flying like that!"

Harry shook his head, trying to clear it of all thoughts of Ginny Weasley. It was an impossible feat. His lips still tingled where they had touched her shoulder.

Ginny thought she could still feel a pleasant prickling where Harry's lips had graced her shoulders that morning. She was walking aimlessly through St. Mugo's waiting for her wand to vibrate, but she didn't expect it too. No witch that she knew of was due today. She had checked and double checked on the women that were still under the twenty-four hour observation window. She stopped at the window to the New Born Center and placed her forehead against the cool glass. She was so confused.

"What is wrong with me? How can I feel so happy, yet so upset at the same time?"

"Nothing's wrong with you." Came the voice that had been in her head for so long, that stupid voice that sounded so much like Hermione's nagging.

"You have no idea." She muttered against the glass.

"Yes I do."

A hand rested on Ginny's shoulder and she whirled around, whipping her wand out of its compartment in her robes as she did so. She found herself pointing it right into the face of Hermione Granger.

"Hermione… but… but you? How? What?"

"Ginny, calm down." Hermione pleaded as she placed both hands on Ginny's shoulders now. "It's just me, you know, your best friend, Hermione."

"Yeah, I know." Ginny breathed. "But how did you know what it was thinking?"

"Thinking?" Hermione's compassionate face twisted into one of confusion. "Ginny, you were muttering to yourself."

"Out loud?"

"Yes."

"But you sounded so much like…" Ginny trailed off.

"What exactly do I sound like, that I scared you half out of your wits? Am I to be a monster or something?" Hermione demanded.

"No," Ginny said carefully. "You sound just like the voice in my head."

Hermione shook her head in amusement. "We've got to get some food in you. I was coming by to see if you wanted to get lunch with me on your break anyway." Hermione looked at her watch. "It should start in three minutes, if I looked at your schedule correctly that is."

Ginny examined her watch as well. "Oh yeah." She stated lazily. "I guess it is. I must have lost track of the time."

"Good," Hermione stated, linking her arm through Ginny's. "Then we can eat together and sort out this voices in your head business."

Ginny had to laugh; even she knew that she sounded crazy.

Ten minutes later Hermione was pushing a large mug of coffee across the table to her at a small restaurant down the street from St. Mugo's.

"So why is my voice talking to you inside your head?"

Ginny wasn't sure how long she could keep this bottled up for. It was only Hermione after all; there was no harm in telling her.

"If I tell you, you can't tell anyone. Not even Ron. You have to swear to it."

"I promise." Ginny glared at her. "All right, I swear, I swear!"

"Well I've…" Ginny took a deep breath. "I've been trying to sort out my feelings for Harry." She said quickly and quietly hoping that Hermione wouldn't hear and would miraculously decide to drop it.

Instead, Hermione began to chuckle. She looked down into her coffee and began to chuckle.

"So, what do I say when I'm the voice inside your head?" Hermione spat out between her chuckles.

"You're the voice of reason…" Ginny explained slowly. "I don't exactly see what is so funny here!" She shouted at Hermione. "I'm in a terribly difficult situation. What if he doesn't want to be with me? I mean we've been best friends for six years! What if that's as far as he ever wants it to go?"

Hermione was now shaking with laughter. "You mean to tell me, that you've been sorting this out in your head and you've decided that you like him? As something more than a friend?"

Ginny nodded her head slowly. "Will you stop laughing at me? I know it's a bit far-fetched but it's not the craziest thing in the world! Luna's father is still searching for Crumple-Horned Snorkacks's out there!"

Hermione's laughter roared louder still at the mention of the elusive creature.

"Hermione, could you please stop laughing! I've just told you that I love Harry, my best friend for six years and roommate for three and all you can do is laugh at me. I don't know what's gotten into you but I'm leaving." She stood up to leave when she felt a hand on her wrist. She looked back down into the now serious face of Hermione Granger.

"You didn't say that you loved him before."

"I didn't? Oh…"

"You really love him?"

Ginny nodded. "You helped me realize it! Well, the you inside my head. Do you think there's a change that he might like me as well?"

"Ginny," Hermione said weakly. "Don't be mad at Harry, but he told me everything."

"Everything?" Ginny inquired. "What exactly is everything?"

"Under sworn secrecy he told me about the nightmares, and why you always have people sleeping over, and why you sleep with each other, he told me about the…" she couldn't bring herself to say the word, "incident with Evan the other night. He also told me that when Kyle was waiting for you the other night he was so jealous of him that he wanted to gauge his eyes out with that sauce spoon he was still holding rather menacingly when I got there."

"He told you this before Kyle left that night?"

Hermione nodded her head.

"Did he tell you why Kyle left that night?"

Hermione shook her head as she took a sip of her tea. "No I haven't been able to talk to him about it since. Why? Is there a special reason that Kyle left?"

Ginny nodded. "Well what Harry thinks happened, and I agree with him, is that after what Evan did to me, my body while I was sleeping, won't trust anyone that I don't completely and utterly trust, even if my mind thinks I do. So at the moment…" she trailed off.

"At the moment, Harry is the only person that can keep away the nightmares." Hermione said, almost in a whisper.

Ginny nodded.

"So is that when you decided that you loved him?"

Ginny shook her head. "Last night, I got home from work, and I was just getting done eating when I heard Harry scream. If he's the only man that can keep my nightmares away, then he needs me as much as I need him. I just realized that I don't just need him, I love him."

"He loves you too, Ginny. Now all you've got to do is say that to each other."


	9. Chapter 9

Bare Feet

Ginny arrived home at four fifteen. She had gotten off early, having done nothing all day. Her mind was still whirling from her conversation with Hermione. Harry loved her too. The words had bounced back and forth through her head all day long. And now, finally, they would have a chance to say it to each other. Harry got home from work at five, and Hermione assured her that there would be no unexpected drop by's on the part of her or Ron.

An idea popped into her head as she arrived in the living room. She rushed across the room to the kitchen and pulled a roast from the muggle freezer. She set a thawing charm on it, and began magically slicing carrots, onions, and potatoes. She dropped all the vegetables into a pan with the roast and threw it in the oven.

She rushed down the hall to the bathroom to shower quickly before Harry arrived home. As she stepped out of the shower she set a drying and curling charm on her hair and moved down the hall to her room in a towel. She snatched her purple dress up from off of the floor where it had been thrown three nights ago. She put it on a hanger and flicked her wand at it twice; suddenly the dress was laundry fresh and wrinkle free. She smiled to herself and slipped it on. She eyed her turquoise shoes by the door, but decided not to put them on yet. She drug them out to the kitchen and slid them under the island to slip on when Harry arrived.

When he appeared in the fireplace a little before six, her back was turned to him. His breath hitched in his throat as watched her from behind wearing that dress he loved so much, swaying gently to the music she had on while fussing over something on the counter. She was bouncing on her toes, one foot and then the other, to the quickening beat of the music. She swung her head a little and the flowery scent of her came floating back toward Harry like a gift. Everything the he had decided he wanted to say to her rushed out of him, the moment he caught sight of the vision before him. As she went to spin, her dress flowed around her knees and he caught a glimpse of what she was working on. A platter of roast beef and vegetables sat in her hands, as she moved to set it on the island.

Ginny gasped quite audibly. She set the platter down and rushed over to Harry.

"What happened to you?" She asked desperately.

"Huh?" he asked, none to gracefully, distracted by her gorgeous presence.

"Your face Harry, what happened to your face? It looks terrible!"

"Gee, thanks Gin," Harry replied with a small chuckle. He reached up and gently touched his face. He knew that an entire half of it was probably decently black and blue by now. It had been a lovely shade of greenish gray when he left the medic's office back at the pitch. "It looks worse then it feels, doesn't even hurt anymore. Just a broken cheek bone. The team Healer fixed it right up, even gave me a pain potion. Even you could slug me right now and it wouldn't hurt." He said with a wink.

"How did it happen?" she asked in awe, as she took him by the hand and led him to the island. She placed an empty plate in front and a bottle of butterbeer in front of him.

"Well, I hadn't been playing very well all day because I…. Well just because I wasn't. It was almost the end of practice and the seekers were doing a drill called Under Pressure. They let the snitch go and the beaters only hit bludgers at the seeker to see how effective he or she is "under pressure." Well I was the last to go, and I had my hand an inch away from the snitch when a bludger came rushing at me from nowhere. If I had dodged it I would have lost the snitch, so I went for it. The damned thing hit me right in the side of the face, whirled my head around and damn near broke my neck. But I had the snitch in my hand and coach told me that I was the stupidest son of a bitch he had ever seen, but that he wouldn't expect any less if we had been in the World Cup Finale." He explained while Ginny piled roast beef and vegetables onto his plate. "So, I guess it turned out alright in the end." He shrugged. "It didn't hurt for too long." He rubbed his cheek thoughtfully, "though I expect the pain potion will wear off at some point. Oh well!" He shrugged again. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. It's not like I'm re-growing the bones in my face or anything."

"Yes what a lovely alternative." Ginny said sarcastically, while Harry laughed. "Now eat, I made dinner for you because Hermione stole my glorious breakfast idea.

Harry popped a bite of the roast beef into his mouth, and instantly knew something was wrong. He was still chewing the bite after for forty-five seconds of vigorous chomping.

"So?" Ginny asked with a beaming smile on her face. "How is it?" She clearly had not taken a bite yet.

Harry swallowed heavily, torn between the truth and what he knew Ginny wanted to hear. What if she got mad if he told her he didn't like the dish? Would it lessen his chances when he finally plucked up the courage to talk to her later that night? He inwardly shook his head. He had always been honest with Ginny.

"What did you do to it?" He asked slowly. He took a big gulp of water.

"I did what you do to it. I thawed it, and put it in the oven thingy, then I set it to cook with my wand so I made sure it was ready by the time you got home."

"Ahh." Harry stated knowingly. "That explains the shoe leather texture."

"It's bad?" Ginny cried distressed.

"Yeah, Gin. It's really bad. Try it."

Ginny cautiously took a small bite. Her eyes opened wide and she grabbed her napkin and folded it around her mouth, trying to be a lady like as she could be while spitting food back out of her mouth.

"That's horrible!" she proclaimed. "I don't know what I did wrong!"

"Well, you should either cook it either the muggle way, or the magical way. Not both at the same time, and especially not to speed the process up. Roast beef cooks on slowly on low temperatures, not quickly on high temperatures, which is what you tried to do by combining the oven and magic."

Ginny's face fell into her hands with a slap.

"Come on Ginny. It's okay; it's not the end of the world. I appreciate the gesture." He put a hand on her arm. "It was very kind of you."

"It's just," Ginny paused. "Do you think we'd ever really work in a relationship. I mean, do we try too hard. I mean look at me, I made this ridiculous meal, I got all dressed up, and you get here and the beef has been cooked in fiendfyre. I didn't get to put my shoes on, I'm in my bare feet."

"Hey, hey, hey, Gin, slow down. What are you talking about?"

"Its, I, oh I don't know. It's just, last night, and your nightmare. I just…" she trailed off.

"Gin, you're not making much sense."

"I know, I know, I know!" she stated, yelling at herself. "I…" She looked up at him with a look of wonderment in her eyes. "What were you dreaming of last night? I mean, what was your nightmare?"

Harry looked at her in confusion. Neither of them had ever asked the other to reveal the contents of their nightmares. It was just a mutual understanding that if they were with someone they wouldn't be there. There had never been any actual discussion about the dreams. He moved his mouth, wordlessly.

_You have to tell, her. Then she'll know how you really feel. It's the best way._ The voice in his head encouraged him. He gave a resolute nod.

"I was watching you duel with Bellatrix. There was a flash of green light and you were dead. You were just lying there, lifeless on the floor. I ran to you and I was leaning over you. I was tearing at my chest, ripping at my hair, and trying to cling to you all at the same time. Your entire family was in a circle around me, but they weren't there for comfort. They were just watching me; they were blaming me with their cold eyes for what had happened, because it was my fault. Suddenly I felt that the whole world knew that it was my fault." A tear formed at the corner of Harry's eye and escaped, blazing a trail down his bruised face. "But then everything changed. I was still staring at you dead of the floor, but then another you came and wrapped your arms around me from behind. You put your forehead at the back of my neck and you led me away from yourself. You held me and when I looked back, you weren't dead on the floor anymore. And when I looked back at the you that had drawn me away, it wasn't just you holding me. It was your family. It was my family, and if felt like home. I was at home in your arms, and I felt like I wanted to stay there forever. If I could just stay in your arms forever, everything would be alright."

A few more tears, followed the first one down the side of Harry's face, but he looked straight ahead at Ginny, who now had tears shining in her eyes as well.

"I always feel at home in your arms Ginny. It's where I want to be for the rest of my life. You drive my nightmares away more completely than anyone else ever could. That has to mean something, don't you think?"

Ginny nodded fervently, while hastily wiping tears from her cheeks. "When I was holding you last night, when you grew still in my arms, the world, my whole world fell into place." Ginny explained softly, hoping desperately that he would understand.

He did. Harry stood so quickly that his stool almost went crashing to the floor. He rounded the table and gathered Ginny in his arms. She clung to him tightly never wanting to let go, tears softly staining his plain white t-shirt. He pulled away slightly and placed his hands, still rough from practice, on her cheeks. He tilted her head up towards his and looked into her soft brown eyes with his own blazing green orbs. Her eyes held the fierceness that had seen on few occasions, the first one being right before she had kissed him nine years ago after she had won the Quittich Cup. He brought his lips down upon hers with the same intense passion that was reflected in her eyes. He hadn't kissed her like this since after the Final Battle. He was healing both of them with this kiss, just as he had been that night so long ago, before they matured into friends.

Ginny responded with a fire and a passion that had long been forgotten in her endless stream of one night stands. She felt her body melt and mold to his. Her hands wrapped around his neck, and she let out a gasp of surprise as he lifted her from the chair, and began waltzing her gracefully around the room, to a song that was much too fast for their elegant pace. He never broke hold on her lips. His hands were in her hair, on her shoulders, her arms, her waist, everywhere. Her hands were copying his, as if playing follow the leader. He waltzed her around the kitchen, up the hall, and into his bedroom. As they burst through the door, he picked her up and whirled her around in circles before gently laying her on the bed. Her red hair and purple dress splayed across his bed beautifully.

"It looks as if I've underdressed." He stated, looking down at his t-shirt and mesh shorts.

Ginny bit her lip and shook her head. "No, I wasn't wearing shoes remember? Bare feet is the ultimate informal."

"I think you're just trying to make me feel better." He said with a wide cheeky grin. He pulled his shirt over his head, and discarded it before climbing into bed with her.

She lay on her side and stared into his eyes. She put a hand on his bruised cheek and pressed her lips to his. He wrapped her in strong arms. He slid the thin straps of her dress over her shoulders and dipped his head down, placing gentle loving kisses on her shoulder, across her collarbone to the other shoulder. He kissed up and down her neck, stopping only to snake a hand around her back so he could pull the now cumbersome dress off from both sides. His hands gently flitted across her body, taking in the vision before him. He had seen Ginny naked before, but he had never taken the time to study the contours and curves of her delicate but strong body. He peppered kisses all over her breasts and her stomach as she tried to memorize his body with her hands.

Her hands roamed all over his chest, as she shifted slightly to kiss along his neck. They traveled slowly and tantalizingly downward until they reached the waist band of his shorts. She slid the shorts down as far as her arms would reach and Harry took them the rest of the way. She took his face in her hands and forced his lips down upon hers again, as he moved over top of her. In blissful oblivion they removed the rest of their undergarments and were soon completely vulnerable before each other.

"You're so beautiful." Harry whispered, against Ginny's lips. He could bear leaving the taste of them for one second.

Ginny smiled into his lips. "You're not so bad yourself, handsome."

Harry didn't need to ask her if she was sure, as he and done on so many other occasions. He could see it in her eyes, and she could see it in his. As their eyes locked, their bodies locked. Harry and Ginny had had sex before, but they had never made love. Before it was a heated passion, this was more than heat. This was need, fears, love, and understand all physically presented to each other in an act of desperately beautiful passion. Neither had ever experienced anything like it before. Hands and lips moved and crashed everywhere, not frantically but slowly, reverently, lovingly. They moved slowly together; understand perfectly each other's needs. They came together in a way they had never known before in a flowing wave of perfection and love.

Harry moved back to his position beside her, his breath coming in short gasps, and took her in his arms. She pressed her forehead to his chest.

"Harry…"

"I know Gin." He replied. She didn't to finish her sentence. They both knew that this was the most special thing in the world, right now it was the only thing in the world.

"Why did we ignore it all these years?" Ginny asked, tilting her head to look up at him.

"Do you think it would have been like this if he we wouldn't have?"

Ginny shook her head. "No…" she said slowly. "You're right. This was perfect."

Harry kissed her forehead. "You're perfect."

Ginny smiled, and they both lay there quietly, neither of them needing to say a word. Harry looked down at their entangled legs and rubbed Ginny's feet with his own.

"Hey Gin?"

"Hmmm?" she said peacefully.

"I love your bare feet."


	10. Chapter 10

Happy

Harry awoke, rolled over to stretch, and found himself falling face first into a deep sea of red hair. Harry sighed to himself happily. He wouldn't mind drowning, as long as it was in sea of red hair. A smile crept onto his lips. Ginny wasn't lying in his bed because she had had nightmares the night before. She wasn't in his bed because they had come home together drunk. She was in his bed because that's where she truly wanted to be. It was where he wanted her to be too. If he had his way they would never leave the bed. He could lay here with Ginny forever. He let out a sigh of frustration when he realized that he couldn't. He rolled back over and scrambled, carefully out of bed. He pulled on a pair of boxers and padded down the hall to the kitchen. He was desperately in need of coffee. As he entered the hallway he could hear the music they had abandoned in the kitchen playing softly.

"Bloody hell, are you always here?"

Ron nodded his head vigorously, his mouth full of a scone that he had stolen from Harry's refrigerator and had magically warmed. Harry groggily flicked his wand at the coffee pot, while two cups soared towards the island counter that Ron was seated at.

"What's with the music?" Ron inquired.

Harry grunted with a chuckle. "Ginny must have forgotten to turn it off last night. She always has music playing. What do you care anyway? What in bloody hell are you even doing here, again?" Harry asked stressing the last word.

"I am here, you wanker, with some very important inside information about England's World Cup team, but if you don't want to hear it, I'll just be on my way." He taunted lifting himself from the stool.

Harry's eyes widened as the coffee tipped itself into to the mugs. "Sit your arse down, and tell me."

Rom smirked into his coffee cup. "As of last night after the idiotic stunt you pulled, you my friend have been moved to the top ranking in the seeker standings for the team. As long as you don't foul it up, you'll be announced as the starting seeker at the end of the week."

Harry's mouth hung open dumbfounded. "Seriously?" he stammered.

Ron nodded proudly, as Ginny came tiptoeing into the room donned in a tank top and Harry's boxers with her incredibly messy hair piled into a bun on the top of her head.

"Seriously what?" She queried.

"I've made it to the top of the seeker ranking!" Harry proclaimed. "I'm going to be the starting seeker for England's World Cup team!" He declared rushing to her. He lifted her in his arms and spun her around to the middle of the kitchen. He set her gently on her toes and captured her face in his hands and her lips with his. She wrapped her arms around him tightly, hugging him to her small frame.

"That's brilliant Harry!" she exclaimed, not letting go of him.

"Oi" Ron shouted. The couple let go of each other slowly and turned to face Ron. "What's the big idea?"

All three started suddenly when green flames erupted in the fireplace, carrying Hermione with them.

"Merlin Ronald, I told you not to come over here! You can't just floo to people's houses whenever you bloody well please. You've been here almost every morning this week. You don't think that you could have waited until he was a least dressed to pop over here unannounced. You are such a bleeding prat!" she seethed.

All three stared at her. Hermione never cursed.

"But, but, but…" Ron stammered.

"But what Ronald?"

"But, look at them!" Ron finally roared, pointing rudely at Harry and Ginny. Harry's arm was now draped over Ginny's shoulders and her arm was looped firmly around his back. Harry was placing a kiss on Ginny's forehead.

"They're, they're, Merlin Hermione what are they?" he pleaded.

"They're happy Ronald. They're happy."

The End


End file.
